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Crude-oil futures fell Friday, erasing earlier gains, and pushing down prices for the week for the fifth straight time.
New York Mercantile Exchange-traded February crude CLG5, -1.25% settled $1.11, or 2%, lower at $54.73 a barrel, its second-lowest settlement of the year, after one hit last week. It fell 4.2% over the week, its fifth consecutive weekly drop, and has plunged more than 28% in that time, the biggest such drop in six years.
U.S. stock-index futures were quoted higher in electronic trade late Thursday, suggesting a higher start Friday for Wall Street.
About 12 hours ahead of the open, futures for the S&P 500 SPX, -0.01% and Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.03% were quoted at levels implying a 0.2% gain for each.
The dollar was largely unchanged against the yen and the euro in quiet trading in Asia on Friday, with the reduced number of market participants amid the holiday season avoiding any major moves.
The dollar USDJPY, +0.16% was at ¥120.19 from ¥120.15 late Thursday in North America. The euro EURUSD, -0.16% was at $1.2216 from $1.2222.
The euro EURJPY, +0.01% was at ¥146.82 from ¥146.83.
The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, +0.11% a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.07% at 82.52.
Nymex January gasoline RBF5, +0.81% rose 0.6% to $1.52 a gallon, while January heating oil HOF5, +0.72% improved by 0.4% to $1.93 a gallon.
Rounding out the major energy trade, Nymex January natural gas NGF15, +0.59% advanced 0.4% to $3.04 per million British thermal units.
After wild price swings in recent sessions, crude-oil futures took it slow in electronic trading early Friday, with both the New York and London benchmarks making relatively moderate gains.
New York Mercantile Exchange-traded February crude CLG5, +0.11% improved by 0.5% to $56.11 a barrel on Globex, clawing back a bit of its 2.2% drubbing Wednesday when the market was heading into the Christmas holiday.
London-traded Brent North Sea crude for February LCOG5, +0.10% also added 0.5% to trade at $60.54 a barrel after taking a 2.4% loss Wednesday.
