Crude Oil Pulls Back Sharply Amid Worries About Demand

(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Friday, largely offsetting the surge seen in the previous session.

After jumping $2.02 or 2.5 percent to $82.46 a barrel on Thursday, crude for December delivery tumbled $1.95 or 2.4 percent to $80.51 a barrel.

The sharp pullback by the oil prices came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing weaker than expected job growth in the month of October.

While the data added to optimism the Federal Reserve will refrain from future interest rate hikes, it also led to worries about the outlook for energy demand.

"WTI is now trading back at the level it was before Hamas attacked Israel, while Brent still has a little way to go," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

He added, "That will, to some extent, be due to the fact that it hasn't yet led to a more significant conflict in the Middle East - a hugely important region for oil output - as well as weaker economic prospects, as we've seen today."