Crude jumps up as jobless claims make unexpected drop
Published May 02, 2013 01:21PM ET
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded up 2.37% at USD93.19 a barrel on Thursday, off from a session high of USD93.37 and up from an earlier session low of USD90.66.
In the U.S. earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of people filing for initial jobless claims last week fell by 18,000 to 324,000, a five-year low.
Analysts were expecting the figure to come in at 345,000 claims.
The numbers sparked hopes that Friday's jobs report might not disappoint as much as many were expecting, which sent oil rising on sentiments that a more robust U.S. economy will demand more fuels and energy going forward.
Separately, official data showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 11% to USD38.8 billion in March compared to a USD43.6 billion deficit in February, as imports fell sharply.
Meanwhile, a European Central Bank decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.50% also pushed up oil prices further.
Elsewhere on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery were up 1.99% at USD101.94 a barrel, up USD8.75 from its U.S. counterpart.
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Written By: Investing.com
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