(Investing) – NEW YORK -Oil prices eased on Friday on negative economic news from the United States and China and signs of growing supply despite optimism U.S. trade deals could boost global economic growth and oil demand in the future.
Brent crude futures fell 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $68.86 a barrel by 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 47 cents, or 0.7%, to $65.56.
That put Brent down about 1% for the week and WTI down about 3%.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said there was a 50-50 chance or perhaps less that the U.S. would reach a trade agreement with the European Union (EU), saying Brussels wanted to “make a deal very badly”.
The euro zone economy has remained resilient to the pervasive uncertainty caused by a global trade war, a slew of data showed on Friday, even as European Central Bank policymakers appeared to temper market bets on no more rate cuts.
In the U.S., meanwhile, new orders for U.S.-manufactured capital goods unexpectedly fell in June while shipments of those products increased moderately, suggesting that business spending on equipment slowed considerably in the second quarter.
Trump also said on Friday that he had a good meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and got the impression that the head of the U.S. central bank might be ready to lower interest rates.
