WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices fell on Friday as weak U.S. and German data stirred up global growth concerns and overshadowed recent optimism over OPEC output deal.
Benchmark Brent crude was little changed at $63.30 per barrel after hitting as low as $62.92 earlier in the day.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 1.3 percent at $56.57 per barrel.
German factory orders decreased 2.2 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to a 0.4 percent rise in April, official data showed today. Economists had forecast a marginal fall of 0.1 percent.
On a yearly basis, factory orders plunged 8.6 percent, bigger than the 5.3 percent decrease seen in April.
In the United States, new orders for factory goods fell for a second straight month in May while shipments barely rose, pointing to continued weakness in manufacturing.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday showed a smaller-than-expected draw on U.S. crude stockpiles as U.S. refineries last week consumed less crude than the week before.
Markets appeared largely unmoved by the detention in Gibraltar by British Royal Marines of a supertanker believed to be carrying Iranian crude to Syria.
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