The US retail sales index rose less than expected in November, a negative sign ahead of the Christmas holiday season, amid forecasts to have strong sales.

Despite strong sales in the Black Friday in November, the US retail sales index rose only by 0.2%, lower than forecasts of 0.5% and lower than 0.4% in October.

Cars and spare parts sales to in rose by 0.5% last month, and fuel sales rose by 0.7%.

The US dollar fell against most currencies on Friday despite positive signs about the US-China trade file, as investors are anticipating more details about the deal.

According to Bloomberg reports yesterday, US President Donald Trump signed the phase one trade deal with China after negotiators from both sides have agreed on the terms draft of the deal.

Hours after President Trump tweeted that the US is getting very close to a big deal with China, and expressed both sides' desire to end the longrunning trade dispute.

The US economy will release its reading for the retail sales index, which may affect the US dollar and stocks.

Otherwise, the dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by 0.5% to 96.8 points as of 13:18 GMT, and hit an intraday high of 96.9 and a low of 96.7.

Oil prices rose today, after the announcement of a trade deal in principle between the world's two largest economies , which spurred global demand on oil.

Bloomberg reported that US President Donald Trump signed the phase one of the trade deal with China.

Markets are anticipating the details about the deal in order to assess the progress made and the possibility of odds for ending the long-running trade dispute between the two sides.

Otherwise, the dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.5% to 96.8 points as of 13:38 GMT, after it hit an intraday high of 96.9 and a low of 96.7.

The weakened US dollar reduces pressure on dollar-denominated commodity prices, including oil, gold and silver.

West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose by 0.9% to $59.7 as of 13:33 GMT, with a session-high of $60 and a low of $59.3. 

Brent rose by 1.2% to $64.9 a barrel, and hit a high of $65.2 and a low of $64.34.

Oil prices rose on Friday, to extend gains for the second straight day near the 3-month high that was hit last week, after President Trump's upbeat remarks renewed hopes about the US-China trade deal.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose to $59.58, after opening at $59.29, with a session-low of $59.29, and Brent rose to $64.74 a barrel, after opening at $64.34, and hit a low of $64.34.

WTI closed higher by 0.5% on Thursday, and Brent crude futures rose by 0.8%, their second daily gain in 3 days, after OPEC's forecast for supply shortages in 2020 and an unexpected drop in US crude production.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Wednesday that it expects a slight deficit in the global supply next year, which means that supply is lower than expected, even before the output cut agreement taking effect in the first quarter of 2020.

This revised OPEC's forecast shows a different approach, after the organization previously estimated an oversupply in 2020, and OPEC attributed that to the US shale oil production starting to slow down.

Similarly, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed yesterday that oil production fell by about 100,000 barrels last week, to a total of 12.8 million barrels per day, which is the first weekly drop since the week ending Sept.27.

President Donald Trump tweeted yesterday the US is very close to reaching a big trade deal with China. 

Which comes amid reports that the US is considering delaying its tariffs hike on Chinese imports worth $160 billion ahead of the deadline in Dec.15.