•Crude futures continued to fall Friday, led by the deteriorating demand situation in the US, sources said. "The focus is on weak US demand," one analyst said.

•"The bearish fundamentals and technicals are reasserting themselves after a mid-week rally," a London-based broker said. "The overall momentum on crude oil has clearly changed from the dynamics of the first half of the year and this week even an attack on Nigerian pipelines or Iran not giving answers [about their nuclear program]... is not enough to provide sustained support," Petromatrix oil analysts said.

•The ICE Dollar Index firmed to 73.369 ahead of key US employment data due to be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics later today. The lower-than-expected 1.9% rise in second-quarter US GDP data released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which initially sparked a rally in crude prices linked to a fall in the dollar, is "indicative of the slow-growth environment that is inducing a downward drift in commodity prices," MF Global said in a report.

Updated: August 1, 2008