Forexpros – Crude oil futures surged Friday in a rally fueled by growing optimism that Europe will free up money for Greece to keep the debt-ridden country from defaulting as well as by unexpectedly positive jobs data out of the U.S.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at USD103.69 a barrel, up 1.02%.
The commodity hit an earlier session high of USD103.86 and a low of USD102.57.
Leaders across Europe expressed optimism that Greece will stay in the eurozone and avoid default ahead of a Monday meeting, where a vote to free up EUR130 billion for Athens appeared increasingly likely.
A default would disrupt the European financial system and cool the economy, which would crimp demand for crude oil.
News that Europe may be close to assisting Greece even if the country doesn’t meet all of its debt targets eased such fears and sent crude oil prices soaring in mid-session trading on Friday.
Furthermore, U.S. initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level since March of 2008 last week, dropping to 348,000 from 364,000 a week ago, the government reported Thursday.
Markets were expecting the number to dip to only 361,000, and the news came as a welcome surprise that carried over into Friday trading.
In the U.S., January’s inflation rate rose 0.2%, below estimates for a 0.3% increase.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery were down 0.50% and trading at USD119.50 a barrel, up USD15.81 from its U.S. counterpart.
The gap in price between the two contracts is pushing very close toward the higher end of a range between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.
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