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Oil futures continued to slide Friday, a day after plunging below $100 a barrel, but prices rebounded from lower levels after a better-than-expected jobs report for April.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 64 cents, or 0.6%, to $99.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit an intraday low of $94.63 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange was recently down 40 cents, or 0.4%, at $110.40 a barrel.
Crude slid for a second straight day Friday, touching its lowest level since late February, before paring its losses following April's nonfarm payrolls report. The Labor Department's closely watched report said nonfarm payrolls rose 244,000 last month, with the private sector posting the strongest employment gain in five years.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast payrolls would rise by just 185,000. The March data was revised upward slightly to show an increase of 221,000 jobs, from a previous estimate of 216,000
However, other points painted a mixed picture. Unemployment rose to 9%, the Labor Department said, marking the first time monthly unemployment rose in five months.
"The jobs data got us bouncing," said Tom Bentz, director at BNP Commodity Futures in New York. "The market's still struggling. It's going to be hard-pressed to find a whole lot of confidence in buying right now."
Reports on the health of the U.S. economy, the world's largest crude consumer, have taken on increased significance in the oil market recently, amid fears that consumers are balking at high pump prices and demand isn't keeping up with elevated supply levels.
Crude prices remained under pressure following Thursday's broad sell-off in commodities. The plunge came as fears that high oil prices and $4-a-gallon gasoline were hobbling the fragile economic recovery came to a head. A weak U.S. jobless claims report for last week and less-hawkish-than-expected comments on monetary policy from Europe's top central banker triggered the initial selling, and the decline gathered steam as the day went on.
Crude prices gave up 8.6% on Thursday, marking the biggest one-day percentage decline since April 2009. The Nymex contract settled below the psychologically important $100-a-barrel mark for the first time since March.
Market participants remain uncertain over whether crude prices have yet found a floor. Analysts at Goldman Sachs, however, said they were "wary" of future downside following such a dramatic decline.
"The sell-off yesterday has likely removed a large portion of the risk premium that we believe has been embedded in oil prices, which could suggest further downside may be limited from here," the analysts said in a research report.
Front-month June reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently fell 0.25 cent to $3.0929 a gallon. June heating oil fell 1.14 cents, or 0.4%, to $2.8755 a gallon.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 64 cents, or 0.6%, to $99.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit an intraday low of $94.63 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange was recently down 40 cents, or 0.4%, at $110.40 a barrel.
Crude slid for a second straight day Friday, touching its lowest level since late February, before paring its losses following April's nonfarm payrolls report. The Labor Department's closely watched report said nonfarm payrolls rose 244,000 last month, with the private sector posting the strongest employment gain in five years.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast payrolls would rise by just 185,000. The March data was revised upward slightly to show an increase of 221,000 jobs, from a previous estimate of 216,000
However, other points painted a mixed picture. Unemployment rose to 9%, the Labor Department said, marking the first time monthly unemployment rose in five months.
"The jobs data got us bouncing," said Tom Bentz, director at BNP Commodity Futures in New York. "The market's still struggling. It's going to be hard-pressed to find a whole lot of confidence in buying right now."
Reports on the health of the U.S. economy, the world's largest crude consumer, have taken on increased significance in the oil market recently, amid fears that consumers are balking at high pump prices and demand isn't keeping up with elevated supply levels.
Crude prices remained under pressure following Thursday's broad sell-off in commodities. The plunge came as fears that high oil prices and $4-a-gallon gasoline were hobbling the fragile economic recovery came to a head. A weak U.S. jobless claims report for last week and less-hawkish-than-expected comments on monetary policy from Europe's top central banker triggered the initial selling, and the decline gathered steam as the day went on.
Crude prices gave up 8.6% on Thursday, marking the biggest one-day percentage decline since April 2009. The Nymex contract settled below the psychologically important $100-a-barrel mark for the first time since March.
Market participants remain uncertain over whether crude prices have yet found a floor. Analysts at Goldman Sachs, however, said they were "wary" of future downside following such a dramatic decline.
Front-month June reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently fell 0.25 cent to $3.0929 a gallon. June heating oil fell 1.14 cents, or 0.4%, to $2.8755 a gallon.
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