Brent keeps gains, eyes weekly profit
Oil prices rose on Friday, but the US crude trimmed its early gains, while Brent kept rising.
Leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties resumed negotiations about the second Covid fiscal stimulus package.
However, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that his team is looking to end several support programs that were aimed at small and medium businesses.
Baker Hughes will report later today the count of US oil and natural gas rigs for this week.
The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 92.4 points as of 17:46 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.4 points and a low of 92.2 points.
WTI crude December futures rose 0.1% to $41.7 a barrel, after hitting a high of $42.1 and a low of $41.5.
Brent January futures rose 0.7% to $44.5 a barrel, after hitting a high of $44.7 and a low of $44.05.
Dollar edges up amid focus on US Treasury's decision
The US dollar turned higher against most of its peers on Friday, shining as a safe haven amid broad anticipation of the US Treasury Secretary's decision about the stimulus programs.
The US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that his team is looking to end several support programs that were aimed at small and medium businesses.
Leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties resumed negotiations about the second Covid fiscal stimulus package.
The number of Covid-19 infections jumped in the US at a record pace, as data from Johns Hopkins University revealed that the average daily number of infections reached 165,000 recently.
Subsequently, the markets are awaiting the license for the launch of the Covid-19 vaccines that were announced by Pfizer, BioNtech, and Moderna.
The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 92.4 points as of 19:56 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.4 points and a low of 92.2 points.
Gold closes higher, but posts second straight weekly loss
Gold prices rose on Friday, as the US dollar turned higher against most of its peers, but the precious metal suffered weekly losses following the positive news about the Covid-19 vaccines.
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech announced on Wednesday that the recent data from the final phase of the clinical trials on their Covid-19 vaccine showed it was 95% effective.
This came a few days after Moderna announced that its coronavirus vaccine was more than 94.5% effective in preventing the disease.
The dollar index held against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 92.4 points as of 20:12 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.4 points and a low of 92.2 points.
Gold December futures rose 0.6% or $10.9, and closed at $1,872.40 an ounce, with a weekly loss of 0.7%, after hitting today's high at $1,879.2, and the low at $1,859.1.