WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices rose in choppy trade on Friday as investors pondered over Federal Reserve policy and its impact on global growth.
Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.7 percent to $99.75 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 0.4 percent at $96.17.
Worries surrounding aggressive Fed tightening eased after Christopher Waller and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, two of the Federal Reserve's most hawkish policymakers, on Thursday signaled support for a second straight 75-basis-point rate hike at the U.S. central bank's policy meeting later this month.
Investors were also reacting to mixed Chinese data. Official data showed GDP grew 0.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, missing expectations for 1 percent growth. However, retail sales rose 3.1 percent in June to recover from a prior slump.
U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Saudi Arabia later today to discuss energy supply, human rights and security cooperation. He is poised to ask his Gulf allies to pump more oil and thus lower prices.
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