•Global crude futures firmed in early European trading Friday, adding to gains in the previous day's session. "After several days of steep losses, crude prices ended higher yesterday in what seemed to be a technical rebound. It remains to be seen whether the current bounce in energy will hold up as we head into the weekend," MF Global said in a report.

•"The support of yesterday cannot yet be considered as a reversal pattern. The weekly WTI [NYMEX crude] chart will stay negative unless WTI can be bid up above $128/b. The $122-123/b is a key support area for WTI," Petromatrix oil analysts said in a report.

•The situation with Iran remains keenly watched, meanwhile. "Iran is still hovering over the market," a London-based broker said. World powers have offered to start pre-negotiations during which Tehran would add no more uranium-enriching centrifuges and in return face no further sanctions--the so-called "freeze-for-freeze" approach.

Updated: July 25, 2008