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Oil prices climbed higher on Friday, and the most active gold futures contract posted gains for the fifth straight week, amid easing U.S. recession fears, and on optimism over increased demand for oil in the U.S. and China.
Warnings of tight supply due to production cuts by OPEC and its allies contributed as well to the uptick in oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.49 or about 0.6% at $80.58 a barrel.
WTI crude futures gained about 4.6% in the week. Overall, in five weeks, WTI has gained 16%.
Brent crude futures settled at $84.99 a barrel today, gaining $0.75 or about 0.9%. Brent crude has gained 14.6% in five weeks.
Demand worries have eased after a slew of U.S. economic data released on Thursday pointed to a resilient economy.
Data showing the U.S. economy grew more than expected in the second quarter, has helped quell fears of an imminent recession.
Also, weekly jobless claims continued to fall and new orders for key manufactured capital goods unexpectedly rose in June, helping ease fears of slowing demand.
Meanwhile, China stimulus hopes spurred expectations of oil demand regeneration from the world’s largest importer of crude oil.
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