Energy Prospectus

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Oil futures ended Friday’s session higher, as better-than-expected economic data from the U.S. and China bolstered the outlook for future energy demand.

Crude prices received a further boost in post-settlement trade after news broke of an apparent military coup in Turkey. But the coup attempt crumbled as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rushed back to Istanbul from a Mediterranean holiday and urged people to take to the streets in support of his government against plotters he accused of trying to kill him.

Earlier, oil prices hit session highs after data showed that U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in June, as Americans bought motor vehicles and a variety of other goods, bolstering views that economic growth picked up in the second quarter.

Those expectations were further reinforced by other data on Friday showing that industrial production recorded its biggest increase in 11 months in June, driven by a surge in motor vehicle assembly. With domestic demand strengthening, inflation is also steadily rising.

The New York Fed raised its third-quarter GDP growth estimate to a 2.6% rate from the 2.3% it projected a week ago. The economy grew at a 1.1% pace in the January-March quarter.

Meanwhile, China's economy grew 6.7% in the second quarter from a year-ago, unchanged from the first quarter, data showed on Friday. Analysts had expected it to dip to 6.6%.

Also in China, fixed asset investment rose 9.0%, less than the 9.4% year-on-year gain seen in June, while industrial production gained 6.2%, better than 5.9% seen in the same period and retail sales rose 10.6%, a tad better than 10.0% seen.

The U.S. and China are the world’s two largest oil consuming nations.