Oil futures hit fresh 4-week high on strong data from China, US

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – Crude oil futures continued the week-long rally Friday, hitting fresh one-month highs in London trading Friday, as the latest economic data from China and the US underpinned the upwards momentum.

Brent futures for June crude were trading $67.22/b at 11:05am in London (10:05 GMT) up $0.28/b from Thursday's settle of $66.94/b, while May WTI was trading $0.18b higher at $63.64/b.

Crude prices have rallied nearly 7% on the week.

Friday's data showing China's GDP up 18.3% year-on-year (albeit from a low point) underpinned firm oil import data from earlier this week, while US data showing strong retail sales growth and rising unemployed also helped consolidate the oil rally.

The sharpest gains this week came on Wednesday, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a draw of 5.9 million barrels of crude in the week ending April 9, exceeding analyst forecasts of around 3 million barrels.