Oil Narrows Weekly Advance as Trade, Economic Concerns Linger - Bloomberg

Oil Narrows Weekly Advance as Trade, Economic Concerns Linger - Bloomberg:

Oil gave back much of the week’s gains ahead of a long weekend in the U.S., with investors eyeing simmering U.S.-China trade tensions.

Futures in New York fell below $55 a barrel Friday, extending the month’s drop to more than 6%. China is set to impose a 5% tariff on American crude from Sept. 1 that may slow the flow to a key market just as U.S. output hits fresh records. Also, Russia indicated that it reduced crude output in August less than promised in the agreement with OPEC and its allies.

“It’s simply positioning ahead of the long weekend,” said Bob Yawger, futures director at Mizuho Securities USA in New York. “It’s been the best week in the past seven. If you were long, would you want to go home this weekend still long, really no idea what kind of twitter feed the POTUS is going to unload while you hanging out at the beach bar?”