Baker Hughes Co announced today that the US crude oil drilling rigs count declined 10 rigs to 674 during this week.

While the natural gas rigs fell by 1 rig to 129 rigs, with the total of oil and gas rigs declining by 11 to 806.

Oil prices rose surged today, to wipe out earlier losses ahead of the US oil rigs and drilling activities data.

Baker Hughes will reveal later the US drilling activities and rigs count for this week.

Otherwise, the dollar index fell against a basket of  currencies by 0.2% to 97.9 points as of 17:44 GMT, and hit an intraday high of 98.2 and a low of 97.9.

Global markets are monitoring the recent updates and developments of the US-China trade talks amid hopes that the first phase of the trade deal will be reached soon.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 1.8% to $57.8 a barrel as of 17:39 GMT, and hit a high of $57.9 and a low of $56.4.

Brent rose by 1.9% to $63.4 a barrel, with a high of $63.6 and a low of $61.7.

Soybeans prices rose slightly on Friday, lifted by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow upbeat remarks, reassuring the market about the US-China trade talks.

Kudlow said the trade talks between Washington and Beijing are having constructive discussions and the two sides are close to reaching the first phase of the trade deal.

Kudlow added that the two countries are close agreeing on the volume of China's purchases of US farm goods.

This remarks came after sources leaked to Wall Street Journal deep differences on the volume of China's purchases of US agricultural goods.

Otherwise, the dollar index fell by 0.1% to 98.04 points, reducing pressure on commodities, and hit an intraday high of 98.2 and a low of 98.01.

Soybean futures spot price rose by 0.1% to $9.18 a bushel as of 14:40 GMT, and hit a session-high of $9.205 and a low of $9.152.

The main US stocks indices opened at fresh record highs after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow's upbeat remarks about the US-China trade talks spurred optimism.

Kudlow expressed his optimism that the first phase of the US and China trade deal is approaching, opposite to sever news reports about a deep deep hurdles blocking this move.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said before the House Budget Committee yesterday that the US economic growth outlook is moderate and the labor market is strong, adding that any economic disaster could be quite far off.

US data showed today that retail sales rose by 0.3% in October, while the industrial production fell by 0.8%, and import prices fell by 0.5%.

As for trading, Dow Jones rose by 0.3% or 85 points to 27,862 as of 15:07 GMT, Nasdaq surged 0.4% or 35 points to 8,510, and S&P 500 rose by 0.3% or points to 3,105.