By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures overcame a weak start and turned higher Thursday, as a falling dollar and pullbacks earlier in the week worked to support prices, albeit modestly.
Crude for May delivery (CLK11 107.55, +0.44, +0.41%) gained 75 cents, or 0.7%, to $107.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had started floor trading in the red.
May gasoline (RBK11 3.24, -0.01, -0.19%) rose 1 cent, or 0.4%, to $3.25 a gallon.
“Overbought pressures have been substantially reduced, and prices are in a much better position to carry on to the upside after effectively relieving a good deal of steam,” analysts at Cameron Hanover said in a note to clients.
In the previous session, oil settled higher, while gasoline rallied 2.5%. The start of the week was far rockier, however, with oil prices shaving almost 6% from Friday’s level.
On Wednesday, oil benefited from a supply increase that was within expectations, while gasoline advanced on a steep decline in supply.
Natural gas joined the gains after its own inventory data were released.
The Energy Information Administration said natural gas in storage added 28 billion cubic feet in the week ended April 8. Analysts polled by Platts had expected an addition of 31 billion to 35 billion cubic feet. The bullish supplies report follows two bearish ones.
“After two consecutive bearish misses, this smaller-than expected 28 bcf net injection may show that the supply/demand balance has not tipped as much in a bearish direction as had been anticipated,” said Tim Evans, an analyst with Citigroup’s Citi Futures Perspective, in a note to clients.
Natural gas for May delivery (NGK11 4.23, +0.09, +2.22%) advanced 8 cents, or 1.9%, to $4.22 per million British thermal units. Before the report, it had traded at $4.07, off 6 cents from Wednesday’s settlement.
The dollar index (DXY 74.81, -0.17, -0.22%) , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded at 74.752 compared with 74.966 in late North American trading Wednesday. Earlier, it had dipped as low as 74.617, its lowest level since December 2009.
A weaker dollar benefits commodities as it makes them less expensive to holders of other currencies.
Earlier Thursday, investors weighed a U.S. Labor Department report showing 412,000 people applied for jobless benefits for the first time, the highest claim level since mid-February. Read more about jobless claims.
A separate Labor Department report showed U.S. producer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in March, a little less than economists expected. The core rate, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 0.3%, a bit more than forecast.
