Oil Lowers But Set to End the Week Steady; Gold Inches Down

Brent crude fell 11 cents, or 0.2%, at $73.68 a barrel by 0810 GMT. It previously added 2.2% on Thursday. Similarly, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $71.73 a barrel after it previously gained 2.3% on Thursday. 

Brent was on course to finish the week flat after dropping during the previous three weeks.The U.S. crude was also expected to remain steady over the week. 

Investors anticipated demand to stay strong, which helped the two contracts to recover their 7% loss on Monday. Expectations on the market receiving support from falling oil stockpiles and rising rates of vaccinations  also  helped  the two contracts regain their losses.from early in the week.      

Moreover, demand growth is expected to outpace supply after Sunday’s deal by the OPEC+, to add back 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) each month from August.

The market was starting to sense the 400,000 bpd increase will not be enough to keep the market balanced, the ANZ Research analysts said in a report.  Inventories in the U.S. and across OECD countries continue to fall, the analysts added.

For the first time since May, U.S. crude inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels last week. On the flipside, however, stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude fell to their lowest since January 2020.

Gold Recovers from More than One-week Low

Gold was down 0.06% to $1,804.35 by 1:09 AM ET (5:09 AM GMT).  This followed a previous drop to its lowest level since Jul. 12 at $1,791.16 on Thursday. The precious metal was down 0.2% for the past week, after a prior gain during the four weeks that preceded it. 

Gold prices were dropping amid weak global cues. In India, the yellow metal’s prices continued to drop. August gold contracts on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) slumped 0.1%. 

Meanwhile, the dollar was up on Friday headed towards a three-and-a-half-month high. The currency normally moves inversely to gold. After an auction of $16 billion in 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities was bid at a record low, the U.S. Treasury yields eased on Thursday.

Other precious metals movements showed silver easing 0.1% to $25.42 per ounce, palladium climbing 0.3% and platinum steady at $1,092.44.