By Manash Goswami
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent futures slipped on Friday, staying below $104 as bleak U.S. economic data revived worries about demand growth in the world's biggest oil consumer, while a stronger dollar also pressured prices.
Barring news on major supply disruption, the dollar will be a key driver for oil with investors increasingly expecting the greenback's recent surge to peter out.
Brent slipped 5 cents to $103.73 a barrel by 0552 GMT. It is expected to end the week mostly unchanged. U.S. oil was up 18 cents at $95.34, after settling up 86 cents, but was on track to end a three-week winning run.
"The dollar will influence oil quite a bit over the next few sessions because at some point it will start to weaken as it has strengthened too much in recent days," said Tetsu Emori, a commodities sales manager at Astmax Investments in Tokyo.
"All U.S. economic indications in the last few days have been weak and that is raising doubts about demand."
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The U.S. economy showed fresh signs of slowing in the second quarter, with factory activity slipping in the mid-Atlantic region while groundbreaking declined at home construction sites.
POLICY DOVE
The strong dollar and a weak outlook for demand will keep Brent trading in a $103 to $105 range next week, while the U.S. contract will swing between $95 and $98, Emori said.
The dollar held firm near a 10-month high against a basket of major currencies on Friday after a regional Fed chief, long seen as a policy dove, said the Fed could begin easing up on stimulus this summer and end it late this year.
A firm dollar pressures oil as its strength makes commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Brent has risen about $7 from the low of under $97 for the year touched on April 18. The U.S. contract has gained nearly $10 since the 2013 low of $85.61 was touched on the same day.
The difference between the U.S. benchmark and Brent widened beyond $10 per barrel for the first time since May 7 in the previous session, and was at about $8 on Friday. It hit a 2013 low of $7.20 earlier this week.
However, uncertainty over political tensions in the Middle East cushioned oil prices, with Russia's foreign minister saying Iran must take part in a proposed international conference to try to end Syria's civil war.
Charts show that Brent is expected to drop to $102.42 as it failed to break a resistance at $104.13, while U.S. oil is expected to revisit its Thursday low of $93.23, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)