Oil futures: Crude holds gains after S&P 500 rebound

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Crude futures Friday were nudging higher as oil benchmarks consolidated the firm gains made since prices tumbled to 2024 lows at the start of the week.

Front-month Oct24 ICE Brent futures were trading at $79.61/b (1715 GMT), compared to Thursday's settle of $79.19/b and having touched $75/b on Monday.

At the same time Sep24 NYMEX WTI was trading at $76.80/b, versus Thursday's settle of $76.19/b.

Broader macroeconomics continue to dominate commodities movements with oil prices holding the midweek gains after the S&P 500 enjoyed its best day since November 2022 on Thursday, advancing 2.3%.

"US stocks took off on Thursday, sky-rocketing up the charts after a whiff of surprisingly good news from weekly initial jobless claims hinted at a much better-than-expected US labour market," said Stephen Innes, analyst for SPI Asset Management.

Jobless  

The often overlooked weekly jobless claims print came in below forecasts, helping to address recent fears the US could be heading for a recession. New filings came in at 233,000 last week, 17,000 lower on the week and below the Dow Jones estimate for 240,000.

The unwinding of the yen carry trade sent shockwaves across global markets but analysts are hopeful the worst is over, although expect the financial sector to remain volatile in the coming week.

Energy investors will also be on high alert for any military strikes in the Middle East as Iran maintains its pledge to strike back at Israel in retaliation for last week's killing of a senior Hamas figure in Tehran.

Additionally, an escalation in tensions between Russia and Ukraine has lifted European natural gas prices, which could have a knock-on effect on oil in the event of gas pipeline disruptions.

Last Friday, Sep24 Brent futures closed at $76.81/b, while Sep24 WTI settled at $73.52/b.