MW: Oil trades above $60 a barrel after bleak jobs data
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures traded little changed above $60 a barrel Friday after tumbling to a 19-month low in the previous session and as the U.S. government reported job losses climbed more than forecast in October.
Crude for December delivery was up 17 cents to $60.95 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Earlier in the session, the contract fell to an intraday low of $59.97 a barrel.
"Technically, the break of the $60 a barrel mark now leaves the market vulnerable to further losses towards $50 a barrel," wrote analysts at Sucden Research in a note.
"The only real potential bullish factor on the horizon that could halt the slide in oil prices is if OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] can agree and deliver another cut," they said.
In economic news, the Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a 14-year high of 6.5% in October as nearly a quarter million jobs were lost.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 240,000 in October following a revised decline of 284,000 in September, which was the largest job loss in seven years. Read more.
On Thursday, crude futures ended down $4.53, or 7%, at $60.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Oil prices dropped sharply yesterday, nearing two-year lows, as fears continue to mount about both the depth and duration of the current global downturn," said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global, in a research note.
"In fact, the IMF [International Monetary Fund] predicted yesterday that developed economies will deliver their worst economic performance since World War II, and given the cascade of depressing statistics we are seeing of late, we would have to agree," Meir said.
One of the main reasons for the recent sharp decline in oil prices has been concern that a global recession will severely reduce demand for oil.
Also on the Globex Friday, December reformulated gasoline gained 1 cent to $1.34 a gallon and December heating oil rose 3 cents to $1.97 a gallon.
December natural gas futures fell 18 cents, or 3%, to $6.80 per million British thermal units.
