Crude Posts Weekly Drop as Trade Tensions Take Center Stage - Bloomberg

Crude Posts Weekly Drop as Trade Tensions Take Center Stage - Bloomberg:

Crude posted a fourth straight weekly drop amid concerns over how significantly U.S.-China trade tensions will affect demand.

Futures closed 1.3 percent lower Friday amid low-volume trading. Concerns over global trade continue to weigh on investor sentiment, with U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell saying earlier this month that trade barriers threaten productivity and wages, while BlackRock Inc. boss Larry Fink warned intensifying tensions could spur a broad market downturn.

We’re seeing “an underlying concern especially about demand growth and worries about what could happen on the global trade issue," said Gene McGillian, manager of market research at Tradition Energy. "Now, with the uncertainty coming from our president’s administration and his trade policy, part of the demand growth picture is being brought under the spotlight."