Forexpros – Crude oil futures rallied to a three-month high on Thursday, amid signs of progress surrounding the euro zone’s debt crisis and after data showed that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level in seven months last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD97.42 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, jumping 1.76%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.95% to trade at USD97.89 a barrel, the highest price since August 1.
Italy’s Treasury auctioned EUR5 billion of one-year government bonds at an average yield of 6.08% earlier in the day, the highest since September 1997. Following the auction, the yield on 10-year Italian bonds fell back below the 7% mark, a level widely considered unsustainable for continued borrowing.
Meanwhile, Italian lawmakers prepared a package of deficit reduction and economic stimulus measures demanded by the European Union, ahead of a vote this weekend.
In Greece, former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos was named as Greece’s new interim prime minister, following days of talks amid a scramble to avert an imminent Greek default.
The news saw risk appetite sharpen, reducing demand for the safe-haven U.S. dollar and boosting the appeal of commodities.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.44% to trade at 77.78.
Crude prices found further support after the U.S. Department of Labor said that initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to hit a seven-month low of 390,000 last week.
Oil traders have been paying close attention to readings on U.S. employment levels for signs that people are returning to work, thus driving more and using more energy.
Crude prices advanced during the Asian trading session after official trade data showed that China imported 20.8 million tonnes of crude in October, equivalent to 4.92 million barrels a day.
Oil imports were 26.9% higher than the 16.4 million tons of crude imported during the same month last year, and 1.7% higher than 20.45 million tons imported in September.
China is the world’s second largest consumer after the U.S. and has been the engine of strengthening demand.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery rose 0.66% to trade at USD113.06 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts narrowing to USD15.64 a barrel.
The International Energy Agency said earlier that oil production in Libya was resuming faster than initially expected and was on track to hit 0.7 million barrels a day by the end of this year.
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