AFP, London :
Oil prices climbed Friday ahead of the release of a US jobs report and as a hurricane threatened refineries on the US east coast.
Employment data for September, to be released later Friday, is important because an improvement in the labour market is a key factor supporting the Federal Reserve’s plan to hike its near-zero interest rates, analysts said.
A rate increase is supportive of the US dollar, which would make dollar-priced oil more expensive for holders of weaker currencies, hurting demand.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for November delivery advanced 45 cents to $45.19 a barrel compared with Thursday’s close.
Brent North Sea crude for November added 25 cents to stand at $47.94 a barrel in London afternoon trade.
Both contracts ended lower after a choppy trading session on Thursday.
Analysts expect Friday’s jobs report will show the US economy added 205,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1 percent, a seven-year low.
Traders are also watching if Hurricane Joaquin would change direction and threaten oil refineries and storage facilities in the US east coast.
“We expect to see traders take positions in the event the hurricane changes path over the weekend. This would likely put some upside for oil prices,” said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.
On Thursday, Hurricane Joaquin barrelled through the Bahamas as an extremely dangerous Category Four storm in the direction of the eastern United States.
Oil prices climbed Friday ahead of the release of a US jobs report and as a hurricane threatened refineries on the US east coast.
Employment data for September, to be released later Friday, is important because an improvement in the labour market is a key factor supporting the Federal Reserve’s plan to hike its near-zero interest rates, analysts said.
A rate increase is supportive of the US dollar, which would make dollar-priced oil more expensive for holders of weaker currencies, hurting demand.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for November delivery advanced 45 cents to $45.19 a barrel compared with Thursday’s close.
Brent North Sea crude for November added 25 cents to stand at $47.94 a barrel in London afternoon trade.
Both contracts ended lower after a choppy trading session on Thursday.
Analysts expect Friday’s jobs report will show the US economy added 205,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1 percent, a seven-year low.
Traders are also watching if Hurricane Joaquin would change direction and threaten oil refineries and storage facilities in the US east coast.
“We expect to see traders take positions in the event the hurricane changes path over the weekend. This would likely put some upside for oil prices,” said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.
On Thursday, Hurricane Joaquin barrelled through the Bahamas as an extremely dangerous Category Four storm in the direction of the eastern United States.
