IV:Crude oil futures slip lower, but remain near 3-week highs
Investing.com - Crude oil futures slipped lower during early European trading hours on Friday, but remained within close ranged of a three-week high following the release of positive U.S. economic reports on Thursday, while talks with Iran continued.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD95.18 a barrel during European morning trade, down 0.28%.
The January contract settled up 1.69% at USD95.44 a barrel on Thursday.
Oil futures were likely to find support at USD93.47 a barrel, Thursday's low and resistance at USD96.64 a barrel, the high from November 1.
Oil prices found support on Thursday after preliminary data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved to an eight-month high of 54.3 in November from a reading of 51.8 in October.
A separate report showed that the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, beating expectations for a decline of 9,000.
However, data also showed that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region expanded at the slowest pace in six months in November.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index fell to 6.5 in November, from 19.8 in October. Economists had expected the index to decline to 15.0.
Meanwhile, traders continued to monitor talks between Iran and six major powers this week, although negotiators played down expectations for an imminent breakthrough.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery fell 0.26% to trade at USD109.79 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD14.61 a barrel.
