OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices rebounded Friday morning ahead of a slew of just-released economic data.
WTI light sweet crude oil was up 90 cents at $51.54 a barrel, resuming a recent rally.
The U.S. consumer price index rose only 0.5% last month, due mostly to volatile gas prices after Hurricane Harvey. The closely watched core CPI was up only 0.1%, leaving the annnual rate of inflation at only 1.7%.
That's below the Fed's 2% target.
U.S. retail sales jump 1.6% in September, it was also revealed this morning.
Markets will now focus on the weekly U.S. rig count numbers from Baker Hughes due this afternoon.
Yesterday the EIA said U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 2.8 million barrels from the previous week. Gasoline stockpiles, on the other hand, unexpectedly increased by 2.5 million barrels.
Earlier in the week, the EIA said it expects U.S. crude oil production in 2018 to rise by more than previously expected.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX