Oil gains after strong US retail sales help ease recession worries
Crude oil prices rose on Friday after two days of declines, buoyed following data showing a rise in U.S. retail sales helped ease some concerns about a recession in the world’s biggest economy. Brent crude was up 31 cents, or 0.5%, at $58.54 a barrel at 0047 GMT, after falling 2.1% on Thursday and 3% the previous day.
U.S. crude was up 43 cents, or 0.8%, at $54.90 a barrel, having fallen 1.4% the previous session and 3.3% on Wednesday.
U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in July as consumers bought a range of goods even as they cut back on motor vehicle purchases, according to data that came a day after a key part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time since June 2007 prompting a sell-off in stocks and crude oil.
