Forexpros – Crude futures rose Friday, as healthy data for home sales and durable goods suggested the U.S. economy is moving further along its path to recovery.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at USD99.95 a barrel midway through the session, up 0.43%.
The commodity hit a session high of USD100.23 and a low of USD99.25 so far in early U.S. trading Friday.
New-home sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000, up 1.6% above October’s revised rate of 310,000 and up 9.8% above 287,000 in November of last year, exceeding many market expectations.
Furthermore, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. durable goods orders rose a better-than-expected 3.8% in November from October but core durable goods, which are stripped of volatile transportation items, came to 0.3%, slightly lower than expectations.
The news in the United States continues to suggest the economy is strengthening and will require more oil to run.
Reports of a stronger economy are coming hand in hand with concerns over dwindling supplies.
U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 10.6 million barrels to 323.6 million earlier this week, far outpacing analyst expectations.
Geopolitical tensions continue to rock the Middle East, especially in Iran, which remains under suspicion in the West of carrying out a nuclear program.
In Iraq, where the U.S. is withdrawing its troops, fears that sectarian rifts may arise and disrupt the flow of crude out of the countriy have markets concerned as well.
Iraqi authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Muslim Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi on suspected connections to assassinations and bombings, Reuters reports.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for February delivery were up 0.21%, trading at USD108.11 a barrel, up USD8.16 from its U.S. counterpart.
The gap in price between the two contracts hovers on the lower end between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.
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