SINGAPORE: Oil was up in Asian trade today as traders cashed in on cheap crude following a slump in prices last week, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, gained 38 cents to $ 72.52 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for August delivery advanced 38 cents to $ 72.03. Traders were investing in cheap crude following a plunge in oil prices last week, said Serene Lim, a Singapore- based oil and gas analyst with Australia's ANZ bank. "I think because oil prices have already been falling so much, there would be a rebound as longer-term investors buy into the market," she said. She added that the rise was also "due to a consolidation of oil prices at 72 to 73 dollars". Oil prices slumped more than eight per cent last week as weak economic data out of the US sparked widespread fears about the strength of the global economic recovery. The American economy shed 125,000 jobs in June, after adding an upwardly revised 433,000 nonfarm payrolls in May, official data showed. Most analysts had expected a loss of 100,000 jobs. But the revision comes ahead of second-quarter data due this month that is expected to show the economy of the world's second-biggest energy consumer slowed in the three months to June.

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