(Bloomberg) — Oil slipped ahead of US pricing data due later, as a lackluster demand outlook this week counters a bullish mood across broader markets.
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Brent crude traded near $82 a barrel, little changed on the week. Oil jumped Thursday as US equities closed at another record.
Crude is trading close to the upper end of the tight range it’s been in this year. The Paris-based International Energy Agency said this week that oil markets could be in surplus all year as global demand growth loses steam, even as the OPEC+ alliance implements supply cuts to buttress the market.
Russia has nearly reached its target for voluntary reductions for the first time since making the pledge last year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official data for January. Elsewhere, Iraq and Kazakhstan have pledged compliance with their targets after failing to fully cut production as promised last month.
“The market is not showing much appetite to charge higher, with traders booking some profit,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank. “Despite today’s softness crude oil seems to be building a bit of a higher base.”
In the Middle East, exchanges of fire between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel intensified in a further escalation of the week’s cross-border fire that’s raising alarm of a wider war. In Gaza, Israel arrested dozens of Hamas combatants in Nasser Hospital, with grenades and mortar shells found.
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Read More: Oil Slips Ahead of US Pricing Data After Gloomy Demand Outlook