(RTTNews) - After falling in the previous session, the price of crude oil edged up Friday morning amid a mixed US dollar.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for May delivery, edged up $0.42 to $105.77 a barrel. Yesterday, oil ended lower after some disappointing manufacturing data from China and the euro zone fueled concerns of an economic slowdown globally which could lower demand for oil. While the dollar strengthened, oil prices again came under pressure on speculation that some of the big nations may be considering release of strategic oil reserves.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was lingering neat its 2-week low versus the euro and moving lower against sterling. The buck continued to level off from its 1-year peak versus the yen, while trading flat against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, confidence among France's businesses improved markedly in March with their production outlook improving significantly, a survey by the statistical office Insee revealed. The headline synthetic index rose to 96 in March from a February's revised reading of 93. Economists expected an increase to 93 from February's original reading of 92.
Traders will look to the report on new home sales fro the month of February from the U.S. Commerce Department, due out at 10.a.m ET. The consensus estimate calls for new homes sales of 325,000 after new home sales declined unexpectedly to a 321,000 unit-rate in the previous month.
