Oil ticks up

BENGALURU: Oil prices nudged higher on Friday with U.S. inflation data showing some signs of slowing price rises, but for the month, oil was on course for its weakest performance since November.

Brent futures, which have risen nearly 6 percent this week, were up 26 cents, or 0.3 percent at $79.53 a barrel by 1456 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose 37 cents, or 0.5 percent to $74.74, having gained about 8 percent so far this week.

If those levels hold, oil prices will record their second straight week of gains, but Brent and WTI were also set for losses of about 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively.