By Myra P. Saefong and Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures rose above $97 a barrel on Thursday after data showed a decline in weekly jobless claims, though strength in the U.S. dollar limited gains for many commodities.
Oil for March delivery CLH3 +0.42% gained 59 cents, or 0.6%, to $97.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract added to gains after the Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims dropped by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000, much more than expected. See: U.S. jobless claims sink 27,000 to 341,000.
“Weekly jobless claims came in much better than expected to lift the general mood,” said Matt Smith, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric in Louisville, Ky., in a note. But “the mood in Europe is much more downbeat as updated GDP data out of both Germany and France came in worse than expected, highlighting a deepening recession.”
The March contract had hit an intraday low of $96.77 a barrel after data showed euro-zone gross domestic product contracted by 0.6% in the final three months of 2012, versus forecasts for a 0.4% drop.
The euro EURUSD -0.8189% extended a slide versus the dollar. A stronger dollar can undercut the value of commodities, such as oil, that are priced in the U.S. currency. See: Euro-zone GDP plunge stokes rate-cut expectations .
London-traded April Brent North Sea crude futures UK:LCOJ3 -0.24% was little changed, down 2 cents to trade at $117.86 a barrel, after a 13-cent advance Wednesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported a smaller-than-expected rise in last week’s U.S. crude supplies. See: Oil slips; traders parse through conflicting data.
Still, GFT Markets technical analyst Fawad Razaqzada said late Wednesday that the bullish supply data failed to break Nymex crude out of its recent range. “Although [Nymex crude] initially rallied on the news, the sellers started to come in as the price touched $98, a level which had previously put a ceiling to prices. As a result, [Nymex crude] turned lower and looks set to test support at $97.00,” he said.
For Brent, Razaqzada also tipped downward movement, putting the near-term support at $116.70.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, March gasoline RBH3 +1.03% tacked on 3 cents, for a rise of 0.9% to $3.06 a gallon, while March heating-oil HOH3 +0.0093% stood at $3.23 a gallon, up a penny, or 0.3%.
March natural gas NGH13 -3.48% fell 3.5 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.27 per million British thermal units after an 8-cent rally during Wednesday’s session.
The EIA will report its weekly data on natural-gas supplies shortly. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a decline between 160 billion and 164 billion cubic feet.
Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco. Follow her on Twitter @MktwSaefong.
Polya Lesova is MarketWatch's New York deputy bureau chief. Follow her on Twitter @PolyaLesova. Michael Kitchen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
