Crude Oil Update

Oil prices are still in focus on Friday.

Having bounced back from early lows in Tokyo trade, front-month NYMEX crude futures are still under pressure.

Any break below $54.86 would mean fresh lows since mid-2005. The Feb contract was last at $55.60, holding above the $55.27 session lows.

The contract rallied to $56.01 at one point in Asia on short-covering but mild weather and inventories data are still seen weighing.