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healthy U.S. jobs report for April helped oil to climb by about
4% on Friday even though labour market strength could compel the
Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer.
Brent crude was up $1.41, or 1.9%, at $76.71 a barrel by 1000
GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.50, or
2.1%, to $72.84.
"Oil's rebound follows energy stocks' comeback on Wall Street
last Friday after the U.S. reported strong job data, which eased
concerns about an imminent economic recession," said CMC Markets
analyst Tina Teng.
Brent had finished last week with a decline of about 5.3% while
U.S. crude plunged by 7.1% even after Friday's rebound. Both
benchmarks were down for three weeks in a row for the first time
since November.
Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said oil's
recent drop looked excessive.
"An oversold market condition combined with Brent managing to
find support ahead of the March low forced recently established
short sellers to seek cover, potentially highlighting that the
recent sell-off was overdone," he said.
Goldman Sachs analysts on Saturday said that concerns over
near-term demand and elevated supplies were "overblown".
A round of voluntary output cuts by some members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and
allies, together called OPEC+, begin this month and the group
holds its next meeting on June 4.
Before then, U.S. consumer price inflation figures for April
will be in focus on Wednesday, potentially influencing the Fed's
stance on future interest rate decisions.
OPEC's latest monthly oil market report is due on Thursday,
providing an updated reading on the demand and supply outlook.
(Reporting by Alex LawlerAdditional reporting by Sudarshan
VaradhanEditing by David Goodman)
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