Oil futures settled modestly higher on Friday, recovering from early weakness, but posted a weekly loss due to concerns about outlook for energy demand amid fears of a possible recession in Europe.
With natural gas prices continuing to surge higher, posing upside risks to the inflation outlook and threatening to send the European economy into recession, oil prices slipped earlier in the day.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.