NEW YORK: Oil fell on Friday and posted a second straight weekly loss as pressure from weak industrial growth in China countered news that US consumer confidence hit a four-year high. Brent crude's 6.2 percent slide in the past two weeks was the biggest two-week percentage loss since Dec. 16. US crude fell 8.4 percent the past two weeks, its largest since Sept. 30. Crude prices felt early pressure from data showing China's industrial production in April grew at its slowest pace in nearly three years. The report followed disappointing trade numbers released on Thursday, indicating China's economy is showing vulnerability to a global slowdown. Oil pared losses later on news that US consumer sentiment rose early this month to its highest in more than four years, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary May reading.      The consumer data lent support to the US equities intraday, before they ended lower. The stock market's ...

NEW YORK: US natural gas futures edged higher then slipped slightly early Thursday after a government report showed a weekly inventory build which was below market expectations. The US Energy Information Administration report showed total domestic gas inventories rose last week by 30 billion cubic feet to 2.606 trillion cubic feet. Traders and analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 34 bcf gain. Traders noted that the supply-demand balance for gas seemed to be tightening, with record production finally showing signs of slowing and demand picking up as utilities switch from coal to cheaper gas to generate power. The result has been that weekly inventory builds have fallen below the average in four of the last five weeks and are likely to do so again next week even as milder spring temperatures have slowed overall usage. At 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT), front-month gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 3.3 ...

NEW YORK: US natural gas futures edged higher early Wednesday for a third straight session, with expectations for a supportive weekly inventory report on Thursday and signs of a tighter market offsetting the mild weather this week that slowed demand. Traders said the supply-demand balance for gas seemed to be tightening, with record production finally showing signs of slowing and demand picking up as utilities push to switch from coal to cheaper gas to generate power. The result has been that the weekly inventory build has fallen short in three of the last four weeks and could do so again on Thursday even as moderate spring temperatures slowed overall weather demand. At 8:40 a.m. EDT (1240 GMT), the front-month gas futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 2.8 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $2.421 per million British thermal units after trading between $2.417 and $2.451. The front contract hit a ...