The dollar index weakened after the jobs report, making oil and other greenback-denominated commodities more affordable for holders of the euro and other currencies.Oil traders and investors will be on the lookout later in the afternoon for the weekly rig count report from energy services provider Baker Hughes.
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NEW YORK – Oil prices rose more than 2% on Friday as a report showing weaker U.S. jobs growth in August suppressed the dollar, pushing up commodities, but crude futures remained on track for a big weekly loss on glut concerns.
After falling for four consecutive trading days, crude oil prices are stable in the early hours on September 2.
Oil prices hit the lowest levels since early August this week, beset by supply glut worries after United States crude reserves rose for the second straight week. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange LCOX6, +0.64% was flat at $45.45 a barrel.
But oil prices broke into positive territory after the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday morning that employers added jobs at a slower pace last month.
Oil entered a bull market last month – a 20 percent rise from recent lows – on hopes that Russian Federation and OPEC would be able to reach a deal after agreeing to the Algiers meeting.
Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The global prices for oil have adjusted with a sharp increase of U.S. export potential. The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, +0.14%, which measures the US currency against 16 others, has risen 0.3% to 86.75 so far this week.
Still, crude ended the week off 6.72%–its largest single week decline since July-amid worries about the lingering glut of crude and skepticism that major producers will actually follow through on talk of limiting output when members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Algeria later this month.
In the short term, investors are eyeing the U.S. August jobs report due later today for directions. “Crude continues just to be weighed down by the significant oversupply situation that we’re seeing around the world”, he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has meanwhile urged compromise to find agreement on an oil production freeze to combat a global supply glut. OPEC accounts for approximately 40% of the global oil production.
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A similar initiative failed in April, when Saudi Arabia backed out of an agreement after Iran said it wouldn’t join a deal until it reached pre-sanctions levels of oil production. Natural gas fell 10 cents to US$2.79 per 1,000 cubic feet. “The resulting product stock draw will increase refiners’ appetite for crude oil and help pave the way to a sustained tightening of the crude oil balance”. Diesel futures rose 2.77 cents, or 2%, to $1.4096 a gallon.
