China, the world's top energy consumer, saw its economy losing more steam in April despite easier monetary policy, while Europe's largest economy, Germany, slowed in the first quarter. In the United States, retail sales were flat in April, dampening hopes of a sharp rebound in growth in the second quarter.
Japan's Toshiba Corp said an internal probe into accounting irregularities may mean it has to mark down three years of profit by about 7 percent, soothing investor fears the investigation might blow up into a bigger accounting scandal.
The upwards lift has been sufficient that both Brent and US crude futures are set to post a weekly gain of more than 3 percent despite having been dragged down by record levels of Saudi output and US inventories earlier this week.
Ryan Detrick, Chief Strategist at Schaeffer's Investment, told CNBC-TV18 that higher dollar is sending crude down, creating pressure on the already sliding energy stocks, and developing additional concern for the market.