Oil traded near a four-day high in New York as investors bet that signs of a strengthening U.S. economy indicate fuel demand will increase in the world’s biggest crude-consuming nation. Futures were little changed after rising for a second day yesterday as U.S. and European equities surged. Applications for jobless benefits decreased 7,000 to 395,000 last week, the fewest since early April, according to the Labor Department. The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected claims would increase to 405,000. “Oil came off its lows once the jobless numbers came out,” said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “Worries about the debt crisis and economy are being played out in equities and oil is following.” Crude for September delivery was at $85.56 a barrel, down 16 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 8:47 a.m. Sydney time. The contract yesterday gained $2.83, or 3.4 percent, to $85.72, the highest settlement since Aug. 5. Prices are down 1.4 percent this week and 13 percent higher the past year. Brent oil for September settlement gained $1.34, or 1.3 percent, to $108.02 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London yesterday. The European benchmark contract settled at a premium of $22.30 to U.S. futures, compared with a record close of $23.79 on Aug. 10. Equities Rally The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped 4.6 percent to 1,172.64 at the 4 p.m. close in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rallied 3.2 percent, rebounding from a two-year low. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel plan to meet next week after concern that the euro-area debt crisis will spread rattled French markets. The leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies will discuss economic governance of the 17-nation euro region in Paris on Aug. 16, according to separate statements issued yesterday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will trim shipments by 0.3 percent this month as refiners reduce imports during plant maintenance, according to a report yesterday from tanker-tracker Oil Movements. Exports will drop to 22.71 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Aug. 27, the Halifax, England-based researcher said. That compares with 22.77 million barrels in the month to July 30. The data excludes Ecuador and Angola. The decline is smaller than expected for the time of year, which may be linked to higher demand in Japan, the consultant said. New York oil climbed to an intraday high of $114.83 a barrel on May 2 as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and spread to Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. Libyan output fell 50,000 barrels, or 33 percent, to 100,000 in July, the lowest since at least 1962 based on yearly data, a Bloomberg News survey showed. To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net; Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jane Lee in Kuala Lumpur at jalee@bloomberg.net

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