Oil retreats after retail sales disappoint

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil broke its winning streak Friday, falling for the first time in four days after a government report showed retail sales dropped unexpectedly last month.

What prices are doing: Crude oil for July delivery fell $1.70, or more than 2%, to settle at $73.78 a barrel on Friday.

Despite Friday's decline, prices jumped 3% this week after reports showed that crude supplies dropped more than expected last week and China said exports and imports surged in May.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline fell to $2.704 from the previous day's price of $2.706, according to motorist group AAA.

What's moving the market: The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales fell 1.2% in May, disappointing economists who were expecting a 0.2% rise.

The decline, which was the first and largest since September, reinforced investors' worries about the health of the U.S. economy, said Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president of energy at MF Global.

"Our economy is still in a pretty fragile place," he said. "There were expectations that there would be a quicker recovery, but as time goes on, there have been hopeful signs but no growing body of incontrovertible evidence that a recovery is underway."

With a lack of other major economic news on Friday, investors were cautious going into the weekend, dragging prices lower, said Fitzpatrick.

What analysts are saying: Fitzpatrick said he expects prices to remain between $65 and $75 a barrel until investors are convinced that economic conditions are improving, both in the U.S. and abroad.

"Prices are going to go sideways until it becomes clear that Europe's problems are not going to reach us and until our own economy shows that it is self-sustained," he said.