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Oil slips as dealers await US growth data

Dunya News

The oil market sank this week, buckling under pressure from a stream of poor US company results.

Oil prices weakened on Friday as traders awaited official economic growth data from top global crude consumer the United States.Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December fell 47 cents to $108.02 a barrel in London midday trade.New Yorks main contract, light sweet crude for December lost 62 cents to $85.43 a barrel.People are cutting positions ahead of the US (data due Friday) in case it comes in worse than expected, Jason Hughes, an analyst at IG trading group told AFP.People just feel a little more nervous... and are taking a little bit of risk off the table.Trader feared the growth figures -- due at 1230 GMT -- would not meet expectations of 1.6-percent growth for the third quarter following weak corporate reports from major US firms including Google, IBM and McDonalds over the past few days.But data released on Thursday provided some cheer. The US Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 369,000 in the week ending October 20. That was better than the average estimate of 375,000.And durable goods orders also rose 9.9 percent from August, well above the average forecast of 8.0 percent.The oil market sank this week, buckling under pressure from a stream of poor US company results and ongoing concerns over the impact of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.Crude oil prices continue to remain under pressure, following the recent disappointing US earnings results and the tentative economic conditions in Greece and Spain, said Sucden Financial Research analyst Myrto Sokou