The price of crude oil was steady above the $95-mark Friday morning after China reported strong economic growth in the fourth quarter.
China's economic growth accelerated for the first time in two years in the fourth quarter underpinned by robust industrial output and investment, latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed The gross domestic product grew 7.9 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, snapping seven successive quarters of slowdown. Economists had expected a 7.8 percent gain. In the third quarter, GDP expanded 7.4 percent, the weakest pace in three years.
Earlier today, the IEA in its monthly oil market report nudged up global oil demand projection to 90.8 million barrels per day (mbd) for 2013 , which is 240,000 bd more than forecast last month. A raised fourth quarter 2012 demand estimate and heightened expectations for China are the main contributors to the hike, the agency said.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for March delivery, the most Actively traded contract eased $0.14 to $95.80 a barrel. Yesterday, oil settled higher at a fresh four-month high on supply concerns after Islamist militants attacked an Algerian gas field and EIA revealed unexpected dip in US crude oil inventories last week. Also, a batch of upbeat macroeconomic data from the U.S. helped lift trader sentiment.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was leveling off from a 11-month low versus the euro, while advancing toward a 2-month high against sterling. The buck was steady around its 30-month high versus the yen and ticking higher against the Swiss franc.
In economic news from the euro zone, U.K. retail sales, including automotive fuel, dropped unexpectedly by 0.1 percent month-on-month in December, after staying flat in November, the Office for National Statistics showed. Economists were expecting a 0.2 percent rise for December.
In economic news from the U.S., Reuters and the University of Michigan are due to release the results of their preliminary consumer sentiment survey for January. Economists expect the index to decline to 75 from 80.5 in December.
