By Claudia Assis and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures traded lower on Friday, taking a breather after seven days of gains as concerns eased about the Middle East, the dollar rose, and U.S. stocks lost.
Crude for August delivery CLQ2 -1.61% declined $1.45, or 1.6%, at $91.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, off session lows.
So far this week, oil has gained 4.6%.
Oil rallied 3.1% on Thursday alone, boosted by geopolitical concerns touching Iran and Syria.
The jump marked crude futures’ seventh straight day of gains, and put oil at its highest since mid May. Read more on Thursday’s crude-oil trade.
The worries about the Middle East appeared to ease, but uncertainty over oil’s future direction has grown, Citi Futures analysts said.
“We’d suggest taking at least partial profits on any long positions and turn cautious on any new positions, as the next $5 swing could be in either direction,” they said.
The oil-futures market appears to have already priced in stronger seasonal demand, less output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and more from non-OPEC countries, as well as a roughly 1% weakening in global demand, Citi Futures said.
However, additional stimulus measures from the U.S. Federal Reserve and military action against Iran weren’t reflected in the current price, they said.
The loss for oil came as the U.S. dollar was higher, with the dollar index DXY +0.60% rising to 83.382 from 82.926 late Thursday in North America.
A stronger dollar is a negative for dollar-denominated commodities, such as oil, as it makes them more expensive to holders of other currencies.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, gasoline for August delivery RBQ2 -1.15% fell 3 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.91 a gallon, while August heating oil HOQ2 -1.13% 3 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.92 a gallon.
August natural-gas futures NGQ12 +0.60% , however, rose 2 cents, or 0.5%, to $3.01 per million British thermal units, extending last session’s gains after U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed weekly natural-gas inventories at the low end of an expected range.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
