
Oil dropped 0.5 percent after the number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments jumped to the highest level since October in a Labor Department report. Demand for petroleum products has tumbled 8.2 percent in the past two weeks, according to the Energy Department.
“The jobless claims are making people marginally bearish,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts.
Oil for February delivery fell 46 cents to settle at $91.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, futures closed at $91.86, the highest level since Oct. 3, 2008. Prices have risen 15 percent in the past year.
Initial jobless claims climbed by 35,000 to 445,000, the government reported today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey called for 410,000 filings.
“We pulled back after the jobless numbers,” said Tom Bentz, a broker with BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc. in New York.
Benchmark U.S. stock indexes fell from two-year highs on the jobs report. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.4 percent to 1,280.92 at 3:41 p.m. in New York after closing at the highest level since August 2008 yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 46.47 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,708.97.
Fuel demand slipped 0.5 percent to 19 million barrels a day in the week ended Jan. 7, the Energy Department said yesterday. more ...
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