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Mixed news keeps oil prices well above $60

News of OPEC output increasing to 30.79 million barrels per day in March - an 810,000-barrel increase compared to February - weighs on oil prices this morning.

However, news of fighting and unrest in one of Iraq's largest refineries creates doubts if the country will be able to continue current high output from one of the world's largest oil exporters. The country has been suffering from increased unrest for a while, but so far oil production has not been hit.

In Yemen, rebels have taken over control of a large oil terminal.

On the economic front, yesterday saw data slightly below expectations with improving Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (7.5 versus 5.0 previous), housing starts and jobless data below consensus; now today's inflation numbers in both Europe and the U.S. will be the main economic market movers today.

Friday's economic data:

10:30 GBP Average Earnings ex Bonus (Feb)
10:30 GBP Average Earnings Index +Bonus (Feb)
10:30 GBP Claimant Count Change (Mar)
10:30 GBP Unemployment Rate (Feb)
11:00 EUR Core CPI (YoY) (Mar)
11:00 EUR CPI (YoY) (Mar)
11:00 EUR CPI (MoM) (Mar)
14:30 USD Core CPI (YoY) (Mar)
14:30 USD Core CPI Index (Mar)
15:00 RUB Unemployment Rate (Mar)
16:00 USD Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Apr)