Oil futures settled lower on Friday for the first time in six sessions but still gained about 5% for the week, with strength fueled in part by an escalating conflict in Yemen.
Meanwhile, data revealed that the number of active oil and natural-gas drilling rigs fell for a 16th week in a row, and that the declines in the rig counts have slowed.
West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May CLK5, -5.83% settled at $48.87 a barrel, down $2.56, or 5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with the front-month contract ending about 4.9% higher for the week following a 4.5% jump on Thursday.
May Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange LCOK5, -5.19% fell $2.78, or 4.7%, to $56.41 a barrel, leaving it with a weekly gain of around 2%.
Other metals weakened along with gold and silver. May copper HGK5, -1.71% dropped 4.35 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.7675 a pound — up roughly 0.2% for the week.
April platinum PLJ5, -1.20% fell $10.40, or 0.9%, to $1,143.60 an ounce — 0.2% higher from the week-ago settlement. June palladium PAM5, -4.58% gave up $32.35, or 4.2%, to $741 an ounce, losing around 4.9% for the week.
Gold futures settled with a loss on Friday, putting an end to a seven-session stretch of gains that had lifted prices to their highest level in more than three weeks.
Prices rallied particularly strongly over the past two trading sessions as declines in global equities and turmoil in Yemen helped buoy safe-haven investment demand for the metal.
Gold for April delivery GCJ5, -0.56% shed $5, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,199.80 an ounce Friday on Comex. During their seven-session climb, gold futures tallied a total gain of 4.9%. For the week, prices gained 1.3%.
May silver SIK5, -0.99% settled down 7.1 cents, or 0.4%, at $17.069 an ounce, leaving it with a weekly gain of 1.1%.
