Oil rises toward $89 ahead of key US jobs report
Oil prices rose toward $89 a barrel on Friday as traders looked to an important monthly employment report for signs the U.S. economy is strengthening.
Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 11 cents to $88.49 a barrel by late morning in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.92 to settle at $88.38 on Thursday.
Investors will be closely watching the December nonfarm payroll figures scheduled to be released later Friday after mixed signals about the jobs market so far this week.
The Labor Department said Thursday that 409,000 people made claims for benefits for the first time, up 18,000 from the previous week. However, the ADP said Wednesday that companies likely added nearly 300,000 jobs last month, far more than the 100,000 economists predicted.