Gasoline rose in early trading as U.S. economic data boosted optimism that fuel demand will increase and reports of 35 hostages killed in Algeria pushed crude oil higher. Futures gained as much as 1.5 percent as U.S. applications for jobless benefits fell by 37,000 to 335,000 last week, the least since January 2008, Labor Department figures showed today. Mauritania’s private ANI news agency reported that 35 hostages and 15 abductors were killed as Algerian security forces stormed a gas complex where an al-Qaeda-linked group was holding foreign hostages. “Obviously the market went through a geopolitical upset in north Africa the year before last,� Andrew Lebow, senior vice president at Jefferies Bache LLC in New York, said by phone. “Not that Algeria will turn into Libya, but any unrest in the region is cause for worry.� Gasoline for February delivery rose 3.26 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $2.754 a gallon at 9:58 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Volume was 16 percent above the 100-day average. Demand for the motor fuel rose 3.9 percent to 8.32 million barrels a day. Consumption over the past four weeks was down 0.6 percent from the same period a year earlier. “The demand numbers haven’t been particularly good in the U.S., maybe the they’re hoping that looking forward demand picks up,� Lebow said. February-delivery heating oil rose 2.91 cents, or 1 percent, to $3.0282 a gallon on the Nymex. Volume was 13 percent below average. Gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, fell 0.2 cent to $3.292 a gallon, AAA said on its website today. It’s the sixth day in a row the price of fuel for drivers has fallen. To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Murtaugh in Houston at dmurtaugh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

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