Crude oil futures edge higher ahead of U.S. jobs, supply data
2013-09-05 16:09:13
Crude oil futures edged higher on Thursday, as investors were eyeing the release of U.S. jobs and supply data later in the day, while markets also continued to focus on events in Syria, according to Investing.com.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at USD107.33 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.09%.
The October contract settled 1.21% lower, at USD107.23 a barrel on Wednesday.
Oil futures were likely to find support at USD105.86 a barrel, the low from September 2 and resistance at USD108.81 a barrel, the high from September 3.
Concerns over a U.S. military intervention against Syria’s government shifted back into focus after top congressional leaders, including Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Democrat Nancy Pelosi said they would back President Obama's call for military intervention.
Oil prices surged to a 27-month high of USD112.22 a barrel on August 28 amid indications the U.S. was close to taking military action against Bashar al-Assad’s government.
While Syria is not a major oil producer, investors fear that the two-year-old civil war could spill over to affect oil supplies in nearby countries.
Market players are also concerned about the involvement of Iran, OPEC’s sixth-biggest oil producer.
Meanwhile, investors continued to speculate over the timing of the Federal Reserve’s widely expected reduction in monthly bond purchases after data on Tuesday showed that manufacturing activity in the U.S. expanded at the fastest rate since April 2011 in August.
Investors were now looking ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls report which is seen as key to the Fed’s decision on tapering.
The Fed’s stimulus program is viewed by many investors as a key driver in boosting the price of global equities.
Oil traders were also looking ahead to the release of fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of oil demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
On Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. oil inventories declined by 4.2 million barrels for the week ending August 30. Analysts expected a decline of 2.5 million barrels.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for October delivery rose 0.24% to trade at USD115.19 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD7.86 a barrel.