Market News
Oil prices rise but still on track for weekly decline - YAHOO FINANCE
Oil (BZ=F, CL=F)
Oil prices climbed on Friday morning but are still on course for a weekly fall, amid lingering concerns about oversupply in the market.
Brent crude (BZ=F) futures rose 0.9% to $63.94 per barrel at the time of writing, while West Texas Intermediate futures (CL=F) gained nearly 1% at $60.01 a barrel.
Prices fell earlier in the week following a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to pause output increases in the first quarter, which fuelled oversupply worries.
OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to a modest output increase of 137,000 barrels per day (bpd) in December but said that they then planned to pause increases in January, February and March.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Brent crude was "on track for a second weekly decline in the face of supply concerns with output on the increase across a wide spread of nations, with lower-than-average demand growth expected to persist into 2026."
In addition, there are also concerns about economic uncertainty in the US and the impact that this could have on demand for fuel.
Data released by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday showed that job cuts in the US in October were up 175% year-on-year to 153,074, which was the highest figure for the month since 2003.
US government economic data releases have stalled due to the shutdown, meaning there has been much more focus on figures from the private sector.
