The price of crude oil was moving higher Friday morning as traders await the release of crucial US jobs data later in the day.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for July delivery, edged up $0.52 to $95.28 a barrel. Yesterday, oil settled higher after the dollar plummeted against a basket of major currencies with some soft initial job claims data out of the U.S. Crude oil continued to make gains after an official weekly oil report from the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude stockpiles to have dropped more than expected last week, easing demand growth concerns.
This morning the U.S. dollar dipped back near a four month low versus the euro and sterling, while lingering around a two-month low against the Swiss franc. The buck moved back toward a two-month low versus the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's foreign trade surplus declined less than forecast in April, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. The trade surplus fell to EUR 18.1 billion in April from EUR 18.8 billion in March. Economists had forecast a decline to EUR 17 billion.
Germany's industrial output growth accelerated to 1.8 percent month-on-month in April from 1.2 percent in March, the Ministry of Economics and Technology. Production was forecast to remain flat in April. On a yearly basis, industrial production grew 1 percent, reversing last month's 2.4 percent drop. Economists had forecast output to drop 0.7 percent annually
Meanwhile, the U.K. visible trade deficit narrowed sharply in April largely reflecting a decline in imports, the Office for National Statistics said. The deficit on trade in goods fell to GBP 8.2 billion in April from GBP 9.2 billion in March. The April figure was better than the expected GBP 8.8 billion deficit.
Traders will look to the non-farm payroll report from the U.S. Labor Department due out at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect employment to increase by about 163,000 jobs in May following the addition of 165,000 jobs in April. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 7.5 percent.
