Oil prices closed lower for the first time in two weeks Friday as investors paused to assess the economic outlook and OPEC’s ability to counter the U.S. shale boom.
Futures in New York slipped 1.9 percent for the day, ending a nine-day rally that has pushed crude back into a bull market. Prices slipped along with the S&P 500 as the U.S. government shutdown showed no signs of ending, leaving some 800,000 federal workers without pay.
“It could be just a slight risk-off environment after four days of quite strong rallying in asset markets,” said Frances Hudson, global thematic strategist at Aberdeen Standard Investments in Edinburgh.
West Texas Intermediate for February delivery fell $1 to settle at $51.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Its 7.6 percent increase for the week was the best since late June.
Brent for March settlement declined $1.20 to $60.48 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark traded at a premium of $8.57 a barrel to WTI for the same month.
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