By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures added 0.7% on Thursday as markets cheered a string of U.S. macroeconomic data, some of which surprised investors on the positive side.
Oil for August delivery CL1Q +0.77% rose 65 cents, or 0.7%, to $98.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had traded mostly in the red in electronic trading ahead of the New York session.
Futures have closed higher for two consecutive sessions, settling 0 .6% higher the previous day on a larger-than-expected decline in weekly inventories.
Sales at U.S. retailers inched up 0.1% in June, the Commerce Department said. That was better than the small decline economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected. Read more on June retail sales.
The Labor Department reported a 0.4% decrease in its June wholesale producer index, the first decrease in one year. Read more on whole prices.
Investors also cheered news that new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest in three months. Read more on jobless claims.
Further aiding oil and other commodities, the dollar was lower versus most major rivals. The dollar index DXY -0.11% , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded at 74.937 from 75.213 in late North American trading Wednesday. Get real-time currency quotes and trading tools.
Other energy products were mixed. August gasoline RB1Q -0.21% declined less than a penny to $3.14 a gallon, while August heating oil HO1Q +0.60% added 1 cent to $3.12 a gallon.
August natural gas NG11Q -0.91% declined 3 cents, or 0.9%, to $4.35 per million British thermal units.
The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to report on natural-gas inventories later Thursday. Analysts polled by Platts expect an increase between 77 and 81 billion cubic feet for the week ending July 8.
A build within those expectations would be in line with the 78-Bcf injection in 2010 and less than the five-year-average of 88 Bcf, said Platts, citing EIA data.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
