Oil Closes Lower On Inventory Build; Up 4% For The Week

Sponsored Links

Oil prices declined Friday after an official release showed a bigger-than-expected build up in US crude stockpiles. The greenback's rise following weak euro-zone economic growth data also added to the pressure. The Chinese Central Bank's announcement of a hike in deposit reserve ratio for commercial banks further dampened the sentiment.

Crude oil for delivery in March settled $1.15 lower at $74.13 per barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending a streak of four consecutive gaining sessions. On a weekly basis, the price gained over 4%.

The US Energy Department reported Friday an increase of 2.42 million barrels in crude inventories in the week ended February 5. Analysts were expecting a rise by 1.5 million barrels.

Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency and the US Energy Information Administration had upwardly revised their global oil demand growth forecasts for 2010.

In a surprise move, the People's Bank of China raised the deposit reserve ratio for banks by 50 basis points to 16.5% Friday.

The euro-zone economy rose by a lower-than-expected 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the official release by Eurostat on Friday. The fourth-quarter GDP of Germany, Europe's largest economy, was flat compared to the previous quarter.

The Commerce Department reported a 0.5% in US Retail Sales in the month of January, better than the expectations for a 0.3% increase.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)