By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures moved lower Thursday, with prices weakening below the $75-a-barrel mark, as a stronger U.S. dollar pressured the commodity.
Crude for June delivery surrendered $1.34 to stand at $74.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the crude contract had lost 72 cents after government data showed another rise in inventories last week.
Energy traders cast an eye over Thursday's economic data showing first-time jobless claims fell by 4,000, down to 444,000, last week, while U.S. import prices climbed 0.9% in April.
The stronger dollar weighed on oil prices as a hedge against inflation, while "uncertainty about the European economy remains unsettling for energy markets and oil futures," said analysts at Action Economics.
