RTRS: Oil slips back below $67 after surge to 3-week high
By Jennifer Tan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil eased below $67 a barrel on Friday, reversing a near 3 percent surge to a three-week high the previous day, after a few late U.S. corporate results disappointed the market and dented initially bullish sentiment.
Strong results from companies like 3M & Co and AT&T Inc and a rise in U.S. existing home sales in June gave a boost to the idea that the U.S. economy is on the road to recovery, but results from American Express, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc after the bell were less positive. .N
Hopes that a recovery in the world's top energy consumer would spark a rebound in oil demand have pushed crude prices up 15 percent since a two-month low hit in the middle of July.
However, Thursday's rise in U.S. jobless claims could foreshadow a lethargic recovery, with the release of the final July Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index later on Friday offering the next clues.
U.S. crude oil for September delivery fell 17 cents to $66.99 a barrel by 0205 GMT, after surging $1.76 to settle at $67.16 a barrel on Thursday, the highest since July 1. Crude is on track for a rise of about 5.4 percent so far this week.
London Brent crude was down 19 cents to $69.06.
"The U.S. corporate reporting season is very important for equity markets and increasingly, for commodity markets as well, and so any results that disappointed the market will weigh on oil prices," said Ben Westmore, commodity analyst with the National Australia Bank in Melbourne.
In Asia, growing optimism about a U.S. economic rebound helped Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 climb 1 percent on Friday, but the index surrendered early gains after investors locked in profits on fears the poor quarterly results might trigger a fall in Wall Street shares later. .T
"Oil is probably going to start next week on a cautious note, with Wall Street and U.S. macroeconomic data continuing to be the driving factors," Westmore added.
Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Tokyo-based Astmax Co Ltd., expects crude to trade in a range of $65-$70 next week.
At 1355 GMT, the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers will release its final July consumer sentiment index. Economists polled by Reuters expect a reading of 65.0 compared with 70.8 in the final June report.
