Oil on track to score fifth straight weekly gain; Brent hovers at $84/bbl-mark

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US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank are nearing the end of policy tightening campaigns, boosting the outlook for global growth and energy demand. Brent crude slipped 24 cents to $84.00 a barrel, while U.S.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dipped 24 cents to $79.85 a barrel. Back home, on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil futures due for a August 21 expiry, were last trading lower by 0.15 per cent at ₹6,552 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,507 and ₹6,610 per bbl during the session so far, against a previous close of ₹6,562 per barrel.

Bolstered by supply cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced earlier this month, both oil benchmarks are on track for a 3.8 per cent weekly increase - a fifth straight week of gains. Brent is also on track for a monthly gain of 12 per cent, while WTI is set to rise 13 per cent.

Both benchmarks fell by as much as $1 briefly earlier in the session, as investors took profits after WTI rose above $80 per barrel, Price Futures Group, analyst Phil Flynn told news agency Reuters. Bullish demand expectations were boosted on Thursday after U.S.

second quarter gross domestic product grew at a forecast-beating 2.4%, supporting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's view that the economy can achieve a so-called "soft landing." Investors are warming up to the idea of peak rates getting ever closer, while it is looking increasingly probable that the United States will avoid recession, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga. Fresh data released on Friday showed some of the euro zone's top economies displayed unexpected resilience in the second quarter even as a raft of indicators pointed to renewed weakness ahead, as manufacturing ails and services slow.