Crude Oil Ends Higher On Upcoming Crimean Vote; Down 3.6% For Week

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil ended higher for a second straight session on Friday, amid uncertainty over the upcoming referendum in the Crimean region of Ukraine for a vote to break away and join Russia, which could impact oil supplies from Russia. However, gains were limited with investors weighing some weak consumer sentiment data from the U.S., even as the dollar trended lower.

Nonetheless, oil prices shed about 3.6 percent for the week.

Crude futures touched a yearly peak of near $105 a barrel early this month, but surrendered much of the gains with concerns over China growth and the possibility of a U.S. slowdown.

The International Energy Agency in its monthly oil report indicated increased supplies in February, compensating for the increased demand in the U.S. due to the extreme cold weather and the Ukraine tussle. The IEA said oil production in Iraq increased substantially, while supplies from U.S. and Canada also improved, which offset a potential supply gap.

Crude oil futures made gains amid the upcoming referendum on Sunday in the Crimean region of Ukraine to decide on merging with Russia. Ukraine's prime minister said today that Russian-speaking Crimea will almost certainly vote to join Russia. The regional parliament of Crimea has already voted unanimously to become part of Russia. The U.S. and major European powers are expected to slap sanctions on Russia if the vote goes ahead. Russia has been occupying the Crimean region of Ukraine for the last two weeks.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.69 or 0.7 percent to close at $98.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Crude prices for April delivery scaled a high of $99.28 a barrel intraday and a low of $98.06.

Yesterday, crude oil prices increased amid uncertainty surrounding the upcoming referendum in the Crimea region of Ukraine and further supported by some upbeat economic data from the U.S.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 79.42 on Friday, down from its previous close of 79.59 late Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 79.70 intraday and a low of 79.31.

The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.3913 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3869 late Thursday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3936 intraday and a low of $1.3848.

In economic news, a Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan report on Friday showed an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in March, with expectations for future growth taking a hit. A preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment index for March came in at 79.9 compared to the final February reading of 81.6. Economists expected the index to inch up to a reading of 81.8.

The unexpected decrease by the headline index came as the gauge of consumer expectations fell to 69.4 in March from 72.7 in February. At the same time, the report showed that the barometer of current economic conditions climbed to 96.1 in March from 95.4 in the previous month.

Meanwhile, a Labor Department report on Friday showed producer prices in the U.S. showed a modest decrease in February. The producer price index for final demand dropped by 0.1 percent in February after rising by 0.2 percent in January. Economists expected prices to creep up by another 0.2 percent.

From Europe, visible trade deficit in the U.K. widened more-than-expected in January as a strengthening pound weighed on exports, while oil and aircraft lifted imports. U.K.'s visible trade shortfall increased to GBP 9.8 billion, the highest since September, from GBP 7.7 billion in December, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. The deficit was expected to rise to GBP 8.6 billion.