Oil exchange traded funds were higher Friday as crude futures reversed their losses after slipping below $80 a barrel on worries the global economy is weakening.
U.S. Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO) was negative in premarket trading but recovered for a 1.6% gain in late-morning dealings.
In New York, oil was poised for a fourth weekly drop while Brent traded at a record premium to U.S. prices, Bloomberg reported.
“There’s weakness across the Eurozone, and the possibility of a dip back into recession is now a material probability,” said Ben Westmore, a minerals and energy economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., in the report.
“It is clear that deceleration in growth … seems to be gathering momentum and now spreading beyond Europe and the U.S.,” MF Global analysts wrote in a note to clients, according to a report from MarketWatch.