RTRS: Oil rises above $67 on economic recovery hopes
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil climbed above $67 on Friday, rising for a second day on renewed expectations, mainly on equity markets, of a global economic recovery that may increase the world's energy demand.
U.S. light crude was up 35 cents at $67.29 a barrel by 0758 GMT. London Brent crude gained 16 cents to $70.27.
On Thursday, oil jumped more than 5 percent, to register its biggest one day gain since early April, as U.S. data showed the number of workers staying on jobless rolls fell to the lowest in three months last week.
The jobs data eclipsed figures on Wednesday that showed a large increase in U.S. crude oil inventories and slow domestic oil demand.
"Short-term fundamentals are weak but prices are moving up on expectations of an economic recovery. The market is driven by the medium- and longer-term outlook," said Tony Nunan, risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo.
European shares rose after a dip at the opening on Friday. Asian stock markets rose, poised to score a double digit gain in July. Japan's Nikkei average hit a 10-month high while the MSCI Asia index outside of Japan rose to an 11-month high.
The market focus will shift later on Friday to the U.S. government's advance report on second quarter gross domestic product at 1230 GMT.
MONTHLY FALL
Despite expectations of economic recovery, oil's fundamentals have remained weak. Prices are poised to mark their first monthly fall since January, which is likely to be about 4 percent.
In the United States, the world's largest consumer, crude inventories have been on rise and oil refinery utilization rates have remained lower than normal. Europe's oil demand has fallen more sharply than most other areas in the world this year.
U.S. crude oil imports in May fell to the lowest level for the month in 12 years. In Japan, the world's third largest oil consumer, fuel sales fell in June, dropping for the 13th consecutive month.
(Reporting by Maryelle Demongeot in Singapore and Ikuko Kurahone in London)