Crude oil rose to the highest level since November after a report showed that the US cut fewer jobs than forecast last month, a signal that the worst of the recession has passed and fuel demand may rebound.
Oil prices gained 10 percent this week as reports on US home sales and manufacturing in China boosted optimism about the economy and after US crude-oil supplies climbed less than forecast. US payrolls fell by 539,000, after a 699,000 loss in March, the US Labor Department said on Friday in Washington. A loss of 600,000 jobs was forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
“Clearly, the better-than-expected jobs number supports the recent rally that’s been based on early signs of an economic recovery,” said John Kilduff, senior vice president of energy at MF Global Inc in New York. “There is a natural skepticism that comes with this rally because the fundamentals of the oil market are so poor.”
Crude oil for June delivery rose US$1.92, or 3.4 percent, to US$58.63 a barrel at 2:59pm on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Nov. 11. Futures had the largest weekly gain since the week ended March 20.
Gasoline for June delivery climbed US$0.04, or 2.4 percent, to end the session at US$1.7055 a gallon (US$0.4505 per liter) in New York, the highest since Oct. 20.
Equities increased after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said results of the government’s review of the banking industry’s health “should provide considerable comfort.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 2.4 percent to a four-month high of 929.23, capping its eighth weekly advance out of the past nine.
US crude supplies rose 605,000 barrels to 375.3 million last week, the highest since 1990, a US Energy Department report on Wednesday showed. A 2.5 million-barrel increase was forecast by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Brent crude oil for June settlement rose US$1.67, or 3 percent, to end the session at US$58.14 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange, the highest since Nov. 10.
Crude oil volume in electronic trading on the NYMEX was 468,313 contracts as of 3:10pm on Friday in New York. Volume totaled 738,367 contracts on Thursday, 38 percent higher than the average over the past three months. Open interest was 1.2 million contracts. The exchange has a one-business-day delay in reporting open interest and full volume data.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
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