MT: Oil slips to near $71 in Asia as investors eye US unemployment data
SINGAPORE - Oil prices fell to near US$71 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors looked to U.S. monthly employment figures later in the day for signs the economy may be recovering.
Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 60 cents to $71.34 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, the contract lost 3 cents to settle at $71.94.
Investors will be eyeing the jobless rate, which rose to 9.5 per cent in June, for a sense of the health of the U.S. economy. Traders have bid up crude from below $62 a barrel last week on expectations the economy could grow by the end of the year.
Oil prices have held above $71 for the last few days despite an Energy Department report this week that showed crude supplies continue to rise, a sign demand remains weak.
"A much tougher test of the oil market's resiliency as an asset class will be the release of the monthly employment data," said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates in Gelana, Illinois.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for September delivery fell 0.73 cent to $2.05 a gallon and heating oil dropped 0.88 cent to $1.93. Natural gas for September delivery gained 3.1 cents to $3.77 per 1,000 cubic feet.
