MW: Oil futures post small gains ahead of payrolls
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures held small gains Friday as investor showed some appetite for risk ahead of the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls and other August employment data.
Nymex crude futures CLV2 +0.91% rose 41 cents in electronic trade to $95.94 a barrel.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect payrolls to register growth of 125,000 in August, while the nation’s unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 8.3%. The data are due for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
Economists had previously penciled in a 120,000 increase, but some adjusted their expectations after a stronger-than-expected private-sector employment forecast from payrolls processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. Read: Hopes rise for August jobs report .
Oil futures got a Thursday boost after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi disclosed details of a plan to make unlimited bond purchases in an effort to counter risk premiums tied to fears the euro could break apart. Skepticism surfaced in some quarters that the plan would achieve the desired result.
The dollar fell in the wake of Draghi’s monthly news conference Thursday and more upbeat employment expectations. A weaker dollar tends to benefit commodities, such as oil, that are priced in dollars.
“All eyes will be on the domestic nonfarm payrolls report to see whether the dollar can claw back losses against the euro following the announcement of the ECB’s latest gimmick,” wrote strategists at the Schork Group.
The dollar index DXY -0.93% , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of six rival currencies, fell 0.2% to 80.851 in recent action.
Also ahead of the Friday session on the New York Mercantile Exchange, October gasoline futures RBV2 +1.98% rose 0.9% to $3.0181 a gallon, while heating-oil futures HOV2 +0.59% added 0.5% to $3.1581 a gallon.
William L. Watts is MarketWatch's European bureau chief, based in Frankfurt.
