After three consecutive days of bullishness, WTI crude oil prices are sliding lower early on Friday as concerns of a slowdown in the global economy weakening demand for oil comes back to haunt markets. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading around $55.86 per barrel.

US crude oil enjoyed a few days of gains on the back of EIA’s report which revealed an unexpected decline US crude stockpiles for the previous week. However, weak economic data releases have again underpinned crude oil as markets brace for declining demand over weaker economic growth.

Recent Reuters polls reveal that global economic weakness is going to persist in the near future and that the recent positive developments in the US-China trade war will not do enough to turn the sentiment around. Crude oil also turned bearish following the release of German employment data which revealed a decline in private employment for the first time in six years during October.