- The stock market rebound after Monday's sell-off combined with Middle East military tensions to lift oil prices this week.
- Israel is girding for retaliatory strikes by Iran and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
U.S. crude oil gained more than 4% this week as recession fears eased and the risk of a wider war in the Middle East that could disrupt production and transportation loomed over the market.
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Oil advanced as the S&P 500 traded higher Friday, erasing most of its losses from a steep sell-off earlier in the week.
Here are Friday's energy prices:
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- West Texas Intermediate September contract: $76.84 per barrel, up 65 cents, or 0.85%. Year to date, U.S. oil has gained more than 7%.
- Brent October contract: $79.66 per barrel, up 50 cents, or 0.63%. Year to date, the global benchmark is ahead more than 3%.
- RBOB Gasoline September contract: $2.38 per gallon, down about 1 cent, or 0.52%. Year to date, gasoline has advanced 13.5%.
- Natural Gas September contract: $2.15 per thousand cubic feet, up more than 2 cents, or 1.18%. Year to date, gas is down 14.4%.
The Middle East remains on edge after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week. Israel has been preparing for retaliatory strikes by Iran and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, though the U.S. has been working through diplomatic channels to avert an escalation of hostilities.
"Continued bombings in the Gaza strip and overnight targeting of Hezbollah in Lebanon are hardly a statement of peace," Tamas Varga, analyst at oil broker PVM, told clients Friday. "This then keeps alight the idea that at some stage retaliatory action from Iran or its proxies cannot be far away."
Money Report
The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have demanded in a joint statement that Hamas and Israel return to the negotiating table to close a cease-fire deal in Gaza.
"The renewed push by the Biden administration to restart talks between Israel and Hamas probably will not bear fruit," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group, told clients Friday.
"Hedge funds of course have jumped on every ceasefire talk deadline to push oil prices lower," Flynn said. "At some point they may realize that the ceasefire talks are not a reason to sell more oil."
