LONDON—Crude oil futures were down, but trimmed earlier losses as the euro rebounded from near three-week lows on unconfirmed rumors of a new Greek loan deal.
Oil had tumbled almost 3% in early trade as the dollar strengthened against the euro on worries about the Greek sovereign-debt crisis.
"Sentiment [is] still sour amid fears for Greece's default and persistently downbeat macro numbers," Andrey Kryuchenkov, VTB Capital vice president of commodities research, said in a research note.
Fresh macroeconomic-data releases from the U.S. later Friday, including the University of Michigan consumer-sentiment survey and leading indicators, could change investors' mood, as worries remain over the sustainability of the economic recovery.
The August Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was down $1.10, or 1%, at $112.92 a barrel, after falling to a low of $111.05 a barrel.
The front-month July contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading down $1.38, or 1.5%, at $93.57 per barrel. The price was up from an earlier low of $92.12 a barrel.
London Capital Group said in a research note that a price drop to below $92 a barrel could trigger a move down to $90 a barrel.
Higher than usual trading volumes could be contributing to the downward pressure on oil prices, as investors close out long positions ahead of the weekend, said Torbjorn Kjus, oil market analyst at DnB NOR.
In addition to Greece's debt problems, Saudi Arabia's readiness to supply more oil to the market if needed is also pushing oil prices down, SEB said in a research note. "In such a situation the natural choice could be to close risky positions ahead of the weekend."
The ICE's gasoil contract for July delivery was down $8.25, or 0.9%, at $940.50 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for July delivery was 265 points, or 0.9%, lower at $2.9229 per gallon.
