Oil futures declined modestly during Friday’s Asian session after
posting a decent gain during Thursday trade in the U.S. as traders await
the release of the February non-farm payroll report due out from the
U.S. Labor Department later today.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for April delivery fell 0.13% to USD91.44 in Asian trading Friday after gaining 0.75% to settle at USD91.11 a barrel on Thursday in the U.S.
Risk appetite buoyed by rising U.S. equities and a strong data point helped lift crude Thursday before it succumbed to some profit taking in Asian trade Friday.
In U.S. economic news, first time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 340,000 last week from 347,000 in the previous week. Economists expected last week’s reading to rise to 355,000. The reading is close to a five-year low. The less volatile four-week moving average also fell by 7,000 last week to 348,750.
Even with the modest decline seen thus far in the Asian session, West Texas Intermediate futures are poised for their best weekly performance in three weeks.
Elsewhere, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will increase global oil shipments by 420,000 barrels a day to 23.83 million per day for the four-week stretch ending on March 23. Those figures exclude Angola and Ecuador. Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s biggest producer, is believed to be making up the bulk of the increased shipments.
Oil traders will now focus on the February NFP number due out later today. Economists expect the U.S., the world’s largest economy to show the addition of 160,000 new jobs last month. Analysts believe the February number will be somewhat hindered by fears of government spending cuts.
The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer. Elsewhere, Brent futures for April delivery fell 0.08% to USD110.86 per barrel.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for April delivery fell 0.13% to USD91.44 in Asian trading Friday after gaining 0.75% to settle at USD91.11 a barrel on Thursday in the U.S.
Risk appetite buoyed by rising U.S. equities and a strong data point helped lift crude Thursday before it succumbed to some profit taking in Asian trade Friday.
In U.S. economic news, first time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 340,000 last week from 347,000 in the previous week. Economists expected last week’s reading to rise to 355,000. The reading is close to a five-year low. The less volatile four-week moving average also fell by 7,000 last week to 348,750.
Even with the modest decline seen thus far in the Asian session, West Texas Intermediate futures are poised for their best weekly performance in three weeks.
Elsewhere, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will increase global oil shipments by 420,000 barrels a day to 23.83 million per day for the four-week stretch ending on March 23. Those figures exclude Angola and Ecuador. Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s biggest producer, is believed to be making up the bulk of the increased shipments.
Oil traders will now focus on the February NFP number due out later today. Economists expect the U.S., the world’s largest economy to show the addition of 160,000 new jobs last month. Analysts believe the February number will be somewhat hindered by fears of government spending cuts.
The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer. Elsewhere, Brent futures for April delivery fell 0.08% to USD110.86 per barrel.
