Oil edges higher after 4th straight weekly decline

Price history

• West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery
  CL00,
  +0.94%

  CL.1,
  +0.94%

  CLM23,
  +0.94%
  rose 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $70.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

• July Brent crude
  BRN00,
  +0.86%

  BRNN23,
  +0.86%,
  the global benchmark, was up 45 cents, or 0.6%, at $74.63 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

• Back on Nymex, June gasoline
  RBM23,
  +0.55%
  rose 0.3% to $2.437 a gallon, while June heating oil
  HOM23,
  +1.02%
  gained 0.8% to trade at $2.323 a gallon.

• June natural gas
  NGM23,
  +3.27%
  rose 1.4% to $2.298 per million British thermal units.

Market drivers

WTI fell 1.8% last week, while Brent dropped 1.5% to mark a fourth consecutive weekly loss for both benchmarks.

A second round of debt-ceiling talks between the White House and congressional leaders appeared set for Tuesday, President Joe Biden said Sunday.

“I remain optimistic because I’m a congenital optimist,” Biden told reporters Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, Del. “But I really think there’s a desire on their part as well as ours to reach an agreement. I think we’ll be able to do it.”

Crude has struggled in recent weeks, pressured by negative headlines around the debt ceiling and global demand expectations, said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

A possible market driver Tuesday is the release of Chinese industrial output and retail sales data, he noted.

“Chinese macro indicators have tended to undershoot in recent weeks, and if Chinese industrial production and retail sales data follow the same pattern it could create a further drag on the oil price,” Waterer said, in emailed comments.