INV: Crude oil higher as traders shrug off dismal euro zone, Japan GDP
Investing.com - Crude oil futures were higher during U.S. morning hours on Thursday, after official data showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell last week and investors looked ahead to a G20 meeting starting Friday.
Oil traders shrugged off data showing a worsening of the financial situation in the euro zone.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD97.50 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, up 0.5% on the day.
New York-traded oil prices held in between a tight range of USD96.78 a barrel, the daily low and a session high of USD97.68 a barrel. Oil prices rose to USD98.09 a barrel on Wednesday, the strongest level since February 1.
Oil futures were boosted after the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000, compared to expectations for a decline of 8,000 to 360,000.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended February 3 fell to a five-year low of 3.114 million. Analysts had expected continuing claims to fall to 3.200 million from last week’s revised figure of 3.244 million.
Oil traders have been paying close attention to readings on U.S. employment levels because they offer insight into the economic health of the world's largest crude oil consumer.
Meanwhile, official data released earlier showed that euro zone gross domestic product contracted by 0.6% in the three months to December, compared to expectations for a 0.4% decline, after a 0.1% contraction in the third quarter.
It was the fastest rate of decline since 2009 and marked a third consecutive quarter of contraction.
Germany’s economy, the euro zone’s largest, contracted by 0.6% in the in the fourth quarter, more than expectations for a 0.5% drop on declining exports and investment.
France’s economy also contracted more than forecast, with gross domestic product falling by 0.3%, from 0.1% growth in the third quarter. Economists had forecast a contraction of 0.2% in the fourth quarter.
The downbeat euro zone growth data came after a report showed that Japan’s economy contracted by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, compared to expectations for an uptick of 0.1%.
Market players also remained cautious ahead of a meeting of Group-of-20 finance ministers in Moscow later in the week, which was likely to feature discussions on competitive currency devaluation.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery dipped 0.1% to trade at USD117.81 a barrel, with spread between the Brent and crude contracts contracting to USD20.31 a barrel.
The spread widened to more than USD23 earlier in the week, as ongoing concerns over a glut of oil in the Midwest pressured New York-traded futures.
London-traded Brent futures rose to a nine-month high last week amid indications of strong demand from China and lingering worries about supply disruptions due to conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.
