Oil futures were trying for a fifth straight gain Friday but were presently seeing lackluster trade as investors weighed a strong economic report from China against evidence of cases of COVID rising in parts of the world, threatening a fitful recovery from the demandsapping pandemic.

The energy markets have so far been buttressed by monthly reports that point to a healthy recovery from the pandemic, as well as tensions between the U.S. and Iran and Russia, which could have some impact on crude markets.

On Friday, West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down 13 cents, or 0.2, at 63.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising 0.5 a day ago.

June Brent crude was trading virtually unchanged at 66.95 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe and had hit a notable intraday high on Friday above 67, after the global benchmark picked up 0.5 on Thursday.

For the week, WTI was looking at a weekly gain of 6.8, while Brent was on track for a rise of 6.4, based on the mostactive contracts, FactSet data show. Those weekly returns would mark the best such rise for the contracts since the week ended March 5.

On Friday, the focus was on China which reported that its firstquarter gross domestic product jumped 18.3 on a yearonyear basis. A report on retail sales for the Peoples Republic, one of the biggest importers of crude, also showed a more than 34 rise.

Global cases of COVID remain a key concern, however. Bloomberg reports that Germanys healthcare system is getting…