The price of crude oil was ticking higher Friday morning, with the US dollar trading steady versus a basket of currencies.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for June delivery, edged up $0.42 to $95.58 a barrel. Yesterday, oil settled higher after the dollar dropped against a basket of major currencies following a slew of weak macroeconomic data out of the U.S.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was hovering near its 6-week high versus the euro and its 3-week high against sterling. The buck was extending its 4-year high versus the yen, while trading around its 10-month high against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone construction output continued its decline for the fifth month in a row in March, Eurostat reported. Production in construction fell at a faster pace of 1.7 percent, following a 0.3 percent drop in February. Building construction and civil engineering slid 1.4 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. On a yearly basis, overall construction output plunged 7.9 percent, reversing last month's 1.7 percent increase.
From the U.S., Reuters and the University of Michigan will release the preliminary reading of their consumer sentiment index for May at 9:55 a.m. ET. Economists expect an increase in the index to 78 in May from 76.4 in April.
A little later, the Conference Board will release its U.S. leading economic indicators index for April. The consensus expectations call for a 0.3 percent increase in the index following a 0.1 percent drop in March.
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