Oil rises over 3% but set for biggest weekly thumping since 2008 - Reuters

Oil rises over 3% but set for biggest weekly thumping since 2008 - Reuters:

Oil prices were set for their worst weekly drubbing since the 2008 financial crisis, despite rising over 3% on Friday, as investors fretted over evaporating demand from the coronavirus pandemic and a production ramp-up by top producers.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up $1.12, or 3.4%, at $34.33 a barrel by 0728 GMT after falling more than 7% on Thursday. For the week, Brent is set to fall around 24%, the biggest weekly decline since December 2008, when it fell nearly 26%.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 rose $1.17 cents, or 3.7%, to $32.66 per barrel after falling more than $1 earlier in the session. WTI is set to drop nearly 21% this week, also the most since the height of the financial crisis.

“It’s been a very rough week and so it’s not impossible people are locking in ahead of the weekend,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.