MW: Oil falls after data shows rise in jobless claims
Oil futures fell below $37 a barrel Thursday, as a rise in jobless claims and a build in crude inventories weighed on investor sentiment.
Crude oil for February delivery fell 68 cents, or 1.8%, to $36.60 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
"We still think the path of least resistance is lower still, particularly as we approach the February WTI [West Texas Intermediate] expiration on the 20th of the month," said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global.
Economic data Thursday reinforced worries about the grim state of the U.S. economy, which has led to a sharp slowdown in energy demand.
The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time applications for state unemployment benefits rose 54,000 to a seasonally adjusted 524,000 in the week ended Jan. 10.
The four-week average of new claims fell 8,000 to 518,500 - a level that is 55% higher than the average during the same period in the prior year. Read more.
The European Central Bank cut its benchmark lending rate by half of a percentage point to 2% Thursday, as policy makers deal with the first recession since the launch of the euro a decade ago.
The rate cut matched expectations and leaves the central bank's benchmark in line with its all-time low last seen in 2005. See full story.
On Wednesday, oil futures ended lower after data showed U.S. heating-oil inventories rose more than expected and crude stockpiles at a key delivery point hit a new record high.
Crude inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for crude futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose 2.5% to 33 million barrels, up 20% in four weeks.
Also on Globex Thursday, February reformulated gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.19 a gallon and February heating oil gained 3 cents to $1.50 a gallon.
February natural gas futures rose 1 cent to $4.98 per million British thermal units.
The Energy Department is scheduled to report Thursday natural-gas inventories for the week ended Jan. 9. A Platts survey of analysts showed that the government is likely to report a reduction of between 101 billion cubic feet and 106 billion cubic feet in inventories.
