Crude Oil Ends Below $97; Sheds 1.1% For Week

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil ended lower on Friday, as investors mulled over the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve tapering its $85 billion monthly bond-buying program at its upcoming meeting scheduled next week. The possibility of excess supply was also a dampener to oil prices following reports of an increase in Libyan oil production with three ports scheduled to open this week.

For the week, oil prices dropped about 1.1 percent.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for January delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $0.90 or 0.9 percent to close at $96.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Crude prices for January delivery scaled a high of $97.62 a barrel intraday and a low of $96.26.

Yesterday, oil settled a tad higher as investors weighed demand growth prospects after a hefty drop in crude oil stockpiles in the U.S., with gasoline inventories declining sharply.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.23 on Friday, up from 80.22 late Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.42 intraday and a low of 80.16.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3731 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3753 late Thursday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3770 intraday and a low of $1.3710.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said its producer price index edged down by 0.1 percent in November following a 0.2 percent drop in October. The modest decrease was in line with economists estimate. Meanwhile, core producer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, inched up by 0.1 percent in November after rising by 0.2 percent in October. The uptick in core prices also matched expectations.

From the eurozone, Germany's wholesale prices declined for a fourth consecutive month in November, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. The wholesale price index fell 2.2 percent year-on-year in November following a 2.7 percent decline in October. On a monthly basis, prices dropped 0.2 percent in November.

Employment in the euro area stayed unchanged for the second successive quarter in the three months to September, data from Eurostat revealed. At the end of the third quarter, the seasonally adjusted number of employed persons in the currency bloc was unchanged from the preceding three-month period. In the second quarter also there was no change in the employment level.

Elsewhere, U.K. construction output recovered in October, boosting hopes of strong recovery in the fourth quarter, the Office for National Statistics said. Construction output gained 2.2 percent month-on-month, after declining 0.5 percent in September. The growth was driven by the strength in new work, and repair and maintenance.

Meanwhile, Japan's industrial production grew 1 percent in October from the prior month, faster than the 0.5 percent rise initially estimated, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed.