Investing.com - Crude oil prices held onto overnight gains in Asia Friday, extending five straight days of gains, on further signs of improvement in the U.S. economy.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD97.44 a barrel, up 0.11%, after hitting a session low of USD97.02 and a high of USD97.99. Investors are awaiting the November U.S. jobs report due later in the day.
ICE Futures Exchange January Brent crude settled nearly a dollar lower at USD110.98 a barrel over potential higher output from Iraq and Libya and reduced U.S demand on growing domestic supplies.
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.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD97.44 a barrel, up 0.11%, after hitting a session low of USD97.02 and a high of USD97.99. Investors are awaiting the November U.S. jobs report due later in the day.
ICE Futures Exchange January Brent crude settled nearly a dollar lower at USD110.98 a barrel over potential higher output from Iraq and Libya and reduced U.S demand on growing domestic supplies.
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.