By Claudia Assis and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures returned to gains Thursday, supported by a rising U.S. stock market and a weaker dollar after stumbling earlier on disappointing U.S. jobless claims data.
Crude for May delivery CLK2 +1.09% advanced 80 cents, or 0.8%, at $103.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
That followed a $1.68 rise on Wednesday, when global equity and commodity markets staged a rebound and an inventories report came in largely within expectations.
Oil futures had traded mostly in positive territory during Asian and European trading hours, but were sent south after U.S. jobless claims disappointed analysts’ expectations.
Initial claims jumped by 13,000 last week to 380,000, while claims from two weeks ago were revised upward to 367,000 from 357,000.
And the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report that a perceived danger of a supply shortage related to Iran is the only thing keeping oil prices high. The organization said its collective output rose by 136,000 barrels a day in March to 31.3 million barrels a day, exceeding the world’s demand from OPEC nations.
Separately, the International Energy Agency said that tightening oil market conditions appear to have eased.
Elsewhere, gasoline for May delivery RBK2 +0.76% gained 3 cents, or 0.8%, to trade at $3.32 per gallon. May heating oil HOK2 +0.53% advanced 2 cents, or 0.5%, to $3.13 a gallon.
May natural gas futures NGK12 +1.21% , which fell below the $2-level Wednesday, added 1 cent, or 0.6%, to $2 per million British thermal units.
The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release a report on natural gas inventories later Thursday.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London. V. Phani Kumar in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
