Oil Prices on Track for Biggest Weekly Gain of 7% Since August

Oil prices were on track for their biggest weekly gain since late August, with market sentiment buoyed by easing concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant's impact on global economic growth and fuel demand.
The Brent and WTI benchmarks were both on course for gains of about 7% this week, their first weekly gain in seven weeks, even after a brief bout of profit-taking, Reuters reported.
Brent crude futures were up 0.2%, or 11 cents, at $74.53 a barrel after falling 1.9% on Thursday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $71.21 after sliding 2% in a volatile session the previous day.
Earlier in the week, the oil market had recovered about half the losses suffered since the Omicron outbreak on Nov. 25, with prices lifted by early studies suggesting that three doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine offers protection against the Omicron variant.
However, price pressure is being applied by faltering domestic air traffic in China, owing to tighter travel restrictions and weaker consumer confidence after repeated small outbreaks.
In addition, headlines about a Japanese study showing Omicron is more than four times as transmissible as the Delta variant also sparked some selling, OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
"Oil's had a massive run - it was an excuse for some of the short-term money to lock in some profits," Halley said.
A stronger dollar, rising ahead of US inflation data due later on Friday, also weighed on oil prices. Oil typically falls when the dollar firms because it makes oil more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.