Crude Oil Ends Higher, But Still Below $100

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a two-day loss to end higher on Friday, on some upbeat U.S. jobs data that surged much more than anticipated in April, helping lift growth prospects for crude.

Investors also weighed developments in eastern Ukraine, with Moscow calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the escalating tension, fueling fears of supply disruption from Russia.

Crude oil futures dropped about 0.8 percent for the week.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.34 or 0.3 percent to close at $99.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Crude prices for June delivery scaled a high of $100.14 a barrel intraday and a low of $99.17.

Yesterday, crude futures ended lower following a notable surge in U.S. crude stockpiles and on concerns over demand growth.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 79.54 on Friday, up from its previous close of 79.52 late Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 79.85 intraday and a low of 79.50.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3867 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3869 late Thursday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3873 intraday and a low of $1.3812.

In economic news, non-farm payroll employment surged by 288,000 jobs in April compared to economists' estimates for an increase of about 218,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent.

The report also showed upward revisions to the job growth in the two previous months, with employment up 203,000 jobs in March and 222,000 jobs in February.

A report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed factory orders to have risen 1.1 percent in March following a downwardly revised 1.5 percent increase in February. The pace of growth, however, was slower as economists had been expecting orders to increase by about 1.5 percent in the month.

Eurozone's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 11.8 percent in March, unchanged from February, after revisions to data from the previous months, figures from Eurostat showed Friday. Economists expected the rate steady at February's original 11.9 percent.

The jobless rate has been at 11.8 percent since December 2013, Eurostat said. In March last year, the figure was 12 percent.