MW: Oil futures drop for fourth session ahead of economic data
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures fell for a fourth consecutive session on Friday, as jitters about Europe's debt woes raised concerns about the sustainability of the global economic recovery.
Crude for June delivery dropped $1.21 to $73.19 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. It earlier hit an intraday low of $72.72 a barrel.
Oil futures have ended lower in the last three sessions.
"The energy market seems quite nervous and volatile amid concerns that the euro zone's new austerity measures could dampen the already fragile European economic recovery and the levels of energy demand," wrote analysts at Sucden Financial Research in a note to clients.
Spain and Portugal this week announced austerity measures aimed at lowering their excessive budget deficits. Worries over debt levels in the euro zone persist even after the European Union announced a 750 billion-euro financial-stabilization program.
Also weighing on oil prices was data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories.
Inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for crude traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose by 784,000 barrels to a record high on 37 million barrels.
U.S. stock futures indicated opening losses on Wall Street ahead of several economic reports, including retail sales, industrial production and consumer sentiment.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.2492, -0.0030, -0.2396%) fell to $1.2488 in recent trading following a report that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had threatened to pull his nation out of the euro zone.
