MW Oil bounces back as dollar softens after strong European economic data

By Joseph Adinolfi

Crude-oil futures bounced back on Friday as surprisingly strong economic data out of Europe helped boost the euro and soften the U.S. dollar. Prices had finished at their lowest levels in two weeks a day earlier after Trump told OPEC to lower oil prices.

Price moves

-- West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CL00 CL.1 CLH25 gained 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $75.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

-- March Brent crude BRN00 BRNH25, the global benchmark, gained 50 cents, or 0.7%, at $78.82 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

-- February gasoline RBG25 moved marginally lower to $2.06 a gallon, while February heating oil HOG25 gained 1.3% to $2.502 a gallon.

-- Natural gas for February delivery NGG25 fell by 2.7% to $3.831 per million British thermal units.

Market drivers

Oil prices slumped on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil during comments delivered remotely to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

See also: Trump may have given the Saudis and OPEC the excuse they needed to boost oil production

Prices have been falling for most of the past week as Trump signed executive orders intended to help boost U.S. production which is already running at record levels, analysts said. FactSet data showed futures tied to the U.S. benchmark were down roughly 3% this week, even after Friday's rebound.

However, on Friday, prices received a boost as the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro following positive economic data from the eurozone.

A preliminary reading on the composite eurozone Purchasing Managers' Index, published by S&P Global, rose to 50.2 in January, up from 49.6 in December. Readings above 50 on the index signal that activity is growing.

See also: Europe's cautious rebound overshadowed by Trump tariffs

"One of the things that we're seeing that's lifting oil this morning is we're getting the dollar weakening here vs. the euro and the pound," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, during an interview with MarketWatch.

"The nice PMI beats in Europe this morning has helped boost the euro," he added.

The euro $(EURUSD.FOREX)$ rose by 0.5% to $1.05 against the dollar, according to FactSet data. The British pound $(GBPUSD.FOREX)$ rose by 0.4% to $1.24.

-Joseph Adinolfi

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January 24, 2025 08:29 ET (13:29 GMT)

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