Nymex U.S. crude holds above $101 ahead of jobs data

Nymex U.S. crude holds above $101 ahead of jobs data
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Friday, 05 July 2013 08:28

SINGAPORE (July 5): U.S. crude edged up on Friday, set to post its strongest weekly gains since April, ahead of key U.S. jobs data that could shed light on the timing of any move by the Federal Reserve to pare back economic stimulus.

Investors are on edge over when the Fed will roll back its bond-buying programme, which has boosted liquidity in global markets and caused the U.S. dollar to weaken.

A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities such as oil more attractive for holders of other currencies.

FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. crude futures for August delivery inched up 6 cents to $101.30 a barrel by 0011 GMT, after settling at a 14-month high on Wednesday. There was no settlement in Thursday due to a holiday in the United States.

* Brent crude for August delivery was at $105.60, up 6 cents, after settling down on Thursday for the first time this week as concerns eased over the threat of supply disruption in the Middle East after Egypt's army ousted its president.

* Egyptian security forces arrested the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, security sources said, in a crackdown against the Islamist movement after the army ousted the country's first democratically elected president.

* The toppling of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi divided the Middle East, with Tunisia's ruling Islamists denouncing it as a coup while Gulf Arab leaders celebrated.

* Seaborne oil exports from OPEC, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will rise by 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the four weeks to July 20, an analyst who estimates future shipments said.

* Norway's second most productive oilfield, Grane, will be shut down for an undetermined period next spring, operator Statoil said.

* Brazil expects an upfront payment of at least 15 billion reais ($7 billion) from the winner of the October auction for rights to develop Libra, the country's largest-ever oil discovery, the government said.

* The European Central Bank broke with precedent by declaring it would keep interest rates at record lows for an extended period and may yet cut further, responding to turbulence caused by the U.S. Federal Reserve's exit plan from money-printing.

MARKETS NEWS

* Clear signals of looser policy ahead from central banks in the UK and Europe on Thursday sent the euro to a five-week low, lifted bond prices and gave a boost to share markets.

* The U.S. dollar sped higher on the euro and sterling on Friday after the ECB and BoE both blindsided markets with decidedly dovish policy guidance, leaving the Federal Reserve as the only major central bank with any inclination to rein back stimulus.

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Friday:

- 1230 GMT U.S. Unemployment rate June

- 1230 GMT U.S. Non-farm payrolls June. - Reuters