Crude prices slip following Chinese data

Prices end 2.4% lower for the week Crude-oil futures at Nymex declined on Friday, 11 May 2012 as weak data out of China and ongoing demand concerns combined to pull prices to their lowest settlement of the year. Recent strength in the U.S. dollar also dragged prices lower. Earlier, prices found some support from a bigger-than-expected increase in U.S. consumer sentiment. Light and sweet crude for June delivery fell 95 cents, or 1%, to settle at $96.13 a barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, futures prices finished 2.4% lower. In the currency market on Friday, the Dollar Index, which weighs the strength of dollar against basket of six other currencies rose by almost 0.2%. Among data expected at Wall Street, a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index climbed more than expected, to 77.8 in May, up from 76.4 in April. That was the best reading since January 2008. In other economic news on Friday, the Labor Department said producer prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in April to mark the biggest decline since October. Excluding food and energy, core producer prices edged up by 0.2%. Data from China, meanwhile, served to dent commodities. Latest data showed that China's industrial output rose 9.3% in April. ,Market had expected industrial production to rise around 14%. The Paris-based International Energy Agency said on friday that global oil supplies rose to 91 million barrels a day in April, up 600,000 barrels from the previous month. It also said global consumption is set to rise 800,000 barrels a day, or 0.9%, in 2012, to 90 million barrels a day. Among other energy products on Friday, June heating oil slipped 2 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.96 per gallon, down 1.5% on the week. June gasoline ended at $3 a gallon, off 1 cent, or 0.3% for a weekly gain of 0.8%. Natural gas for June delivery added 2 cents to $2.51 per million British thermal units. Futures prices climbed 10.1% for the week.