•Global crude futures were trading lower Friday as bearish sentiment continues to impact the crude futures complex, sources said. "People are tidying up their books this morning--there's no real volume at the moment. The sentiment remains bearish. If I were in the market right now, I'd be a seller," a London-based broker said.

•Some participants are anticipating a move to the upside, following Thursday evening's equity-led crude futures rally. "We had a strong rally last night following a big move in the Dow Jones," the broker added. "We could see a slightly stronger tone to the crude markets over the course of Friday session, providing, of course, that the US equity rally does not fizzle," energy analyst Edward Meir said in a report.

•US Energy Information Administration inventory data released Thursday revealed relatively neutral set of data, with crudes stocks unchanged for a second week running. The demand data continued to paint a bleak picture with total product demand down 6.6% over the same 4-week period, one year ago.

Updated: November 14, 2008