Crude oil drops on U.S. growth concerns

Investing.com - Crude oil futures dropped on Friday, amid speculation U.S. economic growth won’t be enough to boost demand amid increasing stockpiles, as investors eyed the release of preliminary U.S. gross domestic product data later in the day.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD85.19 a barrel during European morning trade, tumbling 1%.

Sentiment improved briefly on Thursday, after the U.S. National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index rose by 0.3% in September, below expectations for a 2.1% gain.

The data came after a government report showed that durable goods orders, which include transportation items, jumped by a seasonally adjusted 9.9% in September, compared to expectations for a 7.1% gain.

Excluding volatile transportation items durable goods orders rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.0% last month, beating expectations for a 0.8% gain.

Separately, the Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to 369,000, from 392,000 the previous week, compared to expectations for a decrease to 370,000.

The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil-consuming country, responsible for almost 22% of global oil demand.

Separately, investors were also focusing on tensions between Syria and Turkey and the possibility that Iran could support Syria in such a dispute.

Violence also spilled over to neighboring Lebanon in recent days, fuelling concerns over a region-wide conflict.

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa were responsible for 36% of global oil production and held 52% of proved reserves in 2011.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery dropped 0.94% to trade at USD107.47 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD22.28 a barrel.