Oil prices were lower Friday as traders stayed cautious after U.S.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony earlier this week.
At 1008 GMT, Brent crude for July delivery on the ICE futures
exchange traded lower, down 7 cents at $102.37 a barrel. Light, sweet
crude for July delivery traded lower by 38 cents, or 0.4%, at $93.87 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Volumes in London were starting to thin ahead of long holiday weekends in the U.K. and in the U.S.
Torbjorn Kjus, analyst at DnB NOR, said Brent prices are
seeing hard resistance in the $102-$103 a barrel range. Still, any
flare-up in geopolitical tensions in Iraq, Syria and Libya could propel markets through this barrier.
"The stage could be set for some rebuilding of positions
because we have seen a large selloff of financial positions," Mr. Kjus
said.
In Germany, upbeat sentiment surveys released Friday showed
that Europe's largest economy could be picking up. The Ifo business
confidence index increased to 105.7 in May from 104.4 in April, beating
economists' forecasts for an unchanged reading. In a separate study, GfK
research group said German consumer sentiment had hit a fresh
multi-year high
At 1009 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for June delivery rose
$5.50, or 0.6%, to $855.00 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for June
delivery was down 96 points, or 0.3%, at $2.8185 a gallon.