US oil rig count falls this week -Baker Hughes
The energy services firm "Baker Hughes" announced today that the US crude oil drilling rigs fell by 4 rigs to 172 during this week.
While the natural gas rigs rose by 1 to 70 rigs unchanged, with the total of oil and gas rigs falling by 3 to 244.
Oil deepens losses after IEA's report and disappointing Chinese data
Oil prices continued to fall on Friday, weighed down by the release of lower-than-expected economic data in China, and the International Energy Agency's report.
The International Energy Agency cut its forecast for global oil demand in 2020 by 8.1 million barrels per day due to the coronavirus pandemic.
OPEC revealed in its monthly report earlier this week that it expects the global demand for oil to decline by 9 million barrels per day in 2020.
Earlier Chinese data showed industrial output up 4.8% in July, missing estimates of 5.1%.
China's retail sales index fell 1.1% in July, also lower than forecasts of a rise by 0.1%.
As of 16:53 GMT, West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $41.9 a barrel, after it hit an intraday high of $42.5 and a low of $41.7.
Brent fell 0.5% to $44.7 a barrel, with a high of $45.2 and a low of $44.4.
Copper rises despite weak Chinese data
Copper prices rose on Friday, as the US dollar fell against a basket of currencies, despite the release of weak Chinese data.
Earlier Chinese data showed industrial output up 4.8% in July, missing estimates of 5.1%.
China's retail sales index fell 1.1% in July, also lower than forecasts of a rise by 0.1%.
Despite the index lower-than-expected performance, the data show that the Chinese economy is continuing its recovery path from the coronavirus impact.
The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.4% to 93.1 points as of 13:35 GMT, after it hit a high of 93.4 and a low of 93.05.
Copper September futures rose 1.7% to $2.88 per pound as of 13:34 GMT, after hitting a session-high of $2.88 and a low of $2.81.
US consumer confidence improves slightly in August
Americans still see that the economy has not improved amid the coronavirus, which is reflected in consumers confidence.
The University of Michigan survey showed that the US consumer confidence index rose to 72.8 points in August vs.72.5 points in July, slightly higher than analysts forecasts of 72.0 points.