Investing.com - Oil prices rose on Thursday after U.S. gross domestic product and weekly jobless claims reports beat expectations and depicted a recovery that is gaining steam and poised to demand more fuel and energy going forward.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD97.64 a barrel during U.S. trading, up 0.45%.
The commodity hit a session low of USD97.02 and a high of USD97.99. The January contract settled up 1.21% at USD97.20 a barrel on Wednesday.
Oil futures were likely to find support at USD92.57 a barrel, Monday's low, and resistance at USD98.80 a barrel, the high from Oct. 28.
U.S. gross domestic product increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.6% in the three months to September, well above expectations for growth of 3.0% and up from a preliminary estimate of 2.8%, according to Commerce Department data released earlier.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 from 321,000 in the previous week, whose figure was revised up from 316,000.
Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 325,000 last week.
Government data also showed that U.S. factory orders fell 0.9% in October, less than the expected 1% decline after an upwardly revised 1.8% increase the previous month.
The numbers drew applause in energy markets, which continued to cheer Wednesday's supply data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 5.6 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 29, well beyond expectations for a decline of 500,000 barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 385.8 million barrels.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories increased by 1.8 million barrels, compared to expectations for a gain of 1.5 million barrels.
Meanwhile on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery were down 0.79% at USD111.00 a barrel, up USD13.36 from its U.S. counterpart.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD97.64 a barrel during U.S. trading, up 0.45%.
The commodity hit a session low of USD97.02 and a high of USD97.99. The January contract settled up 1.21% at USD97.20 a barrel on Wednesday.
Oil futures were likely to find support at USD92.57 a barrel, Monday's low, and resistance at USD98.80 a barrel, the high from Oct. 28.
U.S. gross domestic product increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.6% in the three months to September, well above expectations for growth of 3.0% and up from a preliminary estimate of 2.8%, according to Commerce Department data released earlier.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 from 321,000 in the previous week, whose figure was revised up from 316,000.
Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 325,000 last week.
Government data also showed that U.S. factory orders fell 0.9% in October, less than the expected 1% decline after an upwardly revised 1.8% increase the previous month.
The numbers drew applause in energy markets, which continued to cheer Wednesday's supply data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 5.6 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 29, well beyond expectations for a decline of 500,000 barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 385.8 million barrels.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories increased by 1.8 million barrels, compared to expectations for a gain of 1.5 million barrels.
Meanwhile on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery were down 0.79% at USD111.00 a barrel, up USD13.36 from its U.S. counterpart.