Investing.com– Oil prices slumped Friday, heading for a fourth straight week of losses, as weak U.S. jobs data added to concerns that slowing economic growth will hit consumption as the year progresses.
At 09:30 ET (13:30 GMT), Brent oil futures fell 1.9% to $78.04 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 2.1% to $74.73.
Oil heads for weekly losses as growth concerns mount
Both benchmarks were on course to lose over 3% this week, the fourth consecutive losing week, sinking to near two-month lows.
This weakness was driven chiefly by growing concerns that an economic slowdown will batter oil demand in the coming months. This was furthered by weak manufacturing PMIs from both the US and China this week, and additionally Friday with the release of soft U.S. labor market numbers.
Nonfarm payrolls came in at 114,000 last month, the lowest since January 2021, down from a revised 179,000 in June, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, above the 4.1% expected..
China also remains a key point of worry for oil markets, as Beijing provided scant details on how it planned to shore up economic growth in the world’s biggest oil importer.
Middle East tensions remain in focus
Crude losses were limited on concerns over an all-out war in the Middle East.
Israel has been linked with the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, ramping up concerns over retaliation by the Palestinian group and Iran.
Earlier in the week, Israel said it had killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in an airstrike, drawing ire from the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed group.
The prospect of an all-out war between Israel and its surrounding states saw traders attach some risk premium to oil prices, on the prospect of potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.
“For now, the market continues to try to balance these supply risks with the negative sentiment driven by demand concerns,” said analysts at ING, in a note. “Weaker Chinese demand has been on the radar for some time now and weaker-than-expected macro data from the US will only add to these demand concerns.”
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
This post is originally published on INVESTING.
