RTRS: UPDATE 6-Oil tops $86 on weak dollar, Fed stimulus
* Fed to buy around $600 bln in treasuries until mid-2011
* Technicals show price target of $87 [ID:nSGE6A20NU]
* ECB keeps interest rate on hold at 1 pct
* U.S. jobless claims rise more than expected
(Updates prices, adds detail)
By Emma Farge
LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Oil topped $86 a barrel on Thursday and rose to a fresh six-month high, as higher-than-expected U.S. jobless claims accelerated dollar losses after a U.S. Federal Reserve decision to pump more money into the economy of the world's top oil user.
By 1332 GMT, U.S. crude for December CLc1 was up $1.60 at $86.29 a barrel, having hit as high as $86.68 earlier. ICE Brent LCOc1 rose $1.53 to $87.91.
The dollar extended losses and fell 0.9 percent against a basket of currencies on Thursday after new U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, underlining the persistent weakness in the labour market. [ID:nN04207851]
"The market is on an upwards track," said Roy Jordan, oil analyst at Facts Global Energy.
"The quantitative easing (QE) is expected to weaken the dollar and as the dollar weakens people start thinking about putting their money into commodities to offset the currency and it's cheaper for importing countries to buy crude."
The U.S. central bank on Wednesday said it would buy around $75 billion in Treasury bonds each month through mid-2011, totalling around $600 billion.
The Fed measures were in line with expectations, but less aggressive than the most bullish estimates of about $2 trillion.
The European Central Bank voted to keep interest rates at 1 percent as expected on Thursday while the Bank of England added no more stimulus to the economy. [ID:nLDE6A30V4] [ID:nLDE6A31DB]