Investing.com - Crude oil futures moved higher during European morning hours on Monday, rebounding from the previous session’s sell-off as markets looked forward to a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels later in the day.
Prices found support amid growing concerns over a disruption to supplies from Norway, the world's eighth largest oil exporter; however gains were capped by sustained fears over the outlook for global economic growth.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at USD84.92 a barrel during European morning trade, gaining 0.6%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1% to trade at a session high of USD85.05 a barrel. Prices hit a low of USD84.03 a barrel on July 6.
Oil futures tumbled more than 3% on Friday after official data showed that the U.S. economy added just 80,000 jobs in June, below market expectations for a gain of around 90,000.
Although the employment report was weaker than expected, many investors said it was not bad enough to spur the Federal Reserve to launch a third round of quantitative easing.
Oil traders have long been taking cues from the monthly jobs report, the most-closely followed indicator of U.S. employment, because it offers insight into the economic health of the world's biggest crude oil consumer.
But market sentiment steadied as traders were awaiting a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later Monday to discuss a plan announced last month to help the region’s indebted nations and banking systems.
Investors continued to monitor rising bond yields for peripheral euro zone nations, amid sustained fears over the region’s debt crisis.
Spanish 10-year yields rose above the psychologically important 7% in early European trade, reversing the decline made in wake of last week’s European Union summit. Similar-maturity Italian yields increased to 6.08%.
Prices found additional support after the Norwegian Oil Industry Association said that the nation’s oil strike will continue for a 15th day as talks supervised by a state mediator broke down over the weekend.
About 15 percent of Norway’s oil production has already been affected by the work stoppage.
Also Monday, government data released earlier in China showed that consumer price inflation accelerated at the slowest rate since January 2010 in June, potentially giving Beijing room to further ease monetary policy.
Investors were also looking ahead to Chinese economic data out this week, including second quarter growth figures, to gauge whether China is a heading towards a hard or a soft landing.
An unexpected rate cut from China last week stocked fears of a deeper-than-expected slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for August delivery rose 0.7% to trade at 98.86 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD13.94.
London-traded Brent prices rallied to a three-week high of USD102.33 a barrel on July 5.
Brent prices have been well-supported in recent sessions amid concerns over a disruption to supplies from Norway and a launch of Western-led sanctions targeting Iranian oil exports.
Prices found support amid growing concerns over a disruption to supplies from Norway, the world's eighth largest oil exporter; however gains were capped by sustained fears over the outlook for global economic growth.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at USD84.92 a barrel during European morning trade, gaining 0.6%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1% to trade at a session high of USD85.05 a barrel. Prices hit a low of USD84.03 a barrel on July 6.
Oil futures tumbled more than 3% on Friday after official data showed that the U.S. economy added just 80,000 jobs in June, below market expectations for a gain of around 90,000.
Although the employment report was weaker than expected, many investors said it was not bad enough to spur the Federal Reserve to launch a third round of quantitative easing.
Oil traders have long been taking cues from the monthly jobs report, the most-closely followed indicator of U.S. employment, because it offers insight into the economic health of the world's biggest crude oil consumer.
But market sentiment steadied as traders were awaiting a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later Monday to discuss a plan announced last month to help the region’s indebted nations and banking systems.
Investors continued to monitor rising bond yields for peripheral euro zone nations, amid sustained fears over the region’s debt crisis.
Spanish 10-year yields rose above the psychologically important 7% in early European trade, reversing the decline made in wake of last week’s European Union summit. Similar-maturity Italian yields increased to 6.08%.
Prices found additional support after the Norwegian Oil Industry Association said that the nation’s oil strike will continue for a 15th day as talks supervised by a state mediator broke down over the weekend.
About 15 percent of Norway’s oil production has already been affected by the work stoppage.
Also Monday, government data released earlier in China showed that consumer price inflation accelerated at the slowest rate since January 2010 in June, potentially giving Beijing room to further ease monetary policy.
Investors were also looking ahead to Chinese economic data out this week, including second quarter growth figures, to gauge whether China is a heading towards a hard or a soft landing.
An unexpected rate cut from China last week stocked fears of a deeper-than-expected slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for August delivery rose 0.7% to trade at 98.86 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD13.94.
London-traded Brent prices rallied to a three-week high of USD102.33 a barrel on July 5.
Brent prices have been well-supported in recent sessions amid concerns over a disruption to supplies from Norway and a launch of Western-led sanctions targeting Iranian oil exports.