Oil prices edged lower on Friday and were on track for weekly losses, weighed down by rising Opec exports and strong output from the US. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were trading at $51.61 a barrel at 9.58am GMT, 40c below the last close and heading for a fall of more than 1.5% on the week. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 40c lower at $48.63 a barrel and were set to drop by just more than 2% for the week.

According to Bank of America’s 2025 Business Owner Report, many business owners are approaching the next 12 months with cautious optimism, with nearly three out of four expecting revenue increases. But compared to last year, more small business owners expect sales to decrease over the next 12 months, while fewer who run medium-sized firms expect that to occur. With the holidays around the corner, there are crosscurrents for small businesses. On one hand, consumer spending on holiday items was off to a strong start; on the other, tariff-related costs have surged for small businesses. Despite the pressure, inventory payments per small business client were up 0.6% year-over-year in October, though seasonal retail hiring remains below last year’s levels.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 0.7% in May after falling 0.6% in April. In May, the index equaled 113.7 (2015=100) compared with 114.5 in April. “Tonnage, despite falling slightly over the last two months, remains well above the lows of last year,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “This is no small deal considering that truck tonnage fell significantly less than many other indicators during the depths of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. “One freight segment that is helping tonnage is gasoline as demand for travel, both commuting and vacation related, picks up,” he said. “I’m also expecting retail freight to remain robust as inventories are at historic lows. As retail stocks are rebuilt, it will boost freight. As has been the case for some time, trucking’s biggest challenges are not on the demand side, but on the supply side, including difficulty finding qualified drivers.”