Oil prices retreat from more than one-year highs as oil production in Texas started to recover
Wall Street stocks finished lower on Thursday as investors digested disappointing economic data. Weekly jobless claims came in at 861,000, marking the highest level in a month while the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index fell to 23.1 in February from 26.5 in the prior month. As such, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.4%, the S&P 500 index closed 0.4% lower while the Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.72%.
Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower on Friday after weak data. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.57% and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.72%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.16%. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.68% and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.34%.
In Europe, equities opened cautiously higher on Friday ahead of key economic data out of the Eurozone. The pan-European Stoxx 600 gained 0.2% early in the session. Later today, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a virtual meeting of leaders of the G-7 major economies. on the positive side, Germany’s regulator declared that the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine was highly effective while negative side-effects are short-lived.
Meanwhile, the dollar continues to retreat ahead of the weekend. EURUSD regained the 20-DMA along with the 1.2100 handle in recent trading but is yet to confirm the latest breakout on a daily closing basis. PMI data could affect the pair’s dynamics later today while risk sentiment will matter as well. On the upside, the next target now arrives at 1.2150.
Oil prices retreat from more than one-year highs on Friday as oil production in Texas started to recover. However, the downside potential looks limited at the moment due to a weaker dollar and upbeat EIA report that revealed a major contraction in crude oil stockpiles and output. The key support now arrives at $62. A break below this level would pave the way towards $60.
