Oil futures staged a rebound Friday, a day after their dramatic plunge below $100 a barrel, following a better-than-expected April jobs report.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped $2.36, or 2.3%, to $102.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract reversed earlier losses after falling as low as $94.63 a barrel intraday.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange advanced $3.22, or 2.9%, to $114.02 a barrel.
The Labor Department's upbeat report on April nonfarm payrolls pulled crude out of its lows. The agency said nonfarm payrolls rose 244,000 last month, with the private sector posting its strongest employment gain in five years.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast payrolls would rise by just 185,000. The March data were revised upward slightly to show an increase of 221,000 jobs, from a previous estimate of 216,000.
"The sentiment has changed from yesterday," said Raymond Carbone, president of oil brokerage Paramount Options.
However, other points painted a mixed picture. Unemployment reached 9%, the Labor Department said, marking the first time monthly unemployment rose in five months.
Reports on the health of the economy of the U.S., the world's largest crude consumer, have taken on increased significance in the oil market recently amid fears consumers are balking at $4-a-gallon gasoline prices and demand isn't keeping up with elevated supply levels.
Such fears were the primary catalyst behind Thursday's sell-off, which spread across the commodities markets. 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 bout of selling, and the decline gathered steam as the day went on.
Crude prices gave up 8.6% 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 rose 6.21 cent, or 2%, to $3.1575 a gallon. June heating oil climbed 5.12 cents, or 1.8%, to $2.9381 a gallon.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped $2.36, or 2.3%, to $102.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract reversed earlier losses after falling as low as $94.63 a barrel intraday.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange advanced $3.22, or 2.9%, to $114.02 a barrel.
The Labor Department's upbeat report on April nonfarm payrolls pulled crude out of its lows. The agency said nonfarm payrolls rose 244,000 last month, with the private sector posting its strongest employment gain in five years.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast payrolls would rise by just 185,000. The March data were revised upward slightly to show an increase of 221,000 jobs, from a previous estimate of 216,000.
"The sentiment has changed from yesterday," said Raymond Carbone, president of oil brokerage Paramount Options.
However, other points painted a mixed picture. Unemployment reached 9%, the Labor Department said, marking the first time monthly unemployment rose in five months.
Reports on the health of the economy of the U.S., the world's largest crude consumer, have taken on increased significance in the oil market recently amid fears consumers are balking at $4-a-gallon gasoline prices and demand isn't keeping up with elevated supply levels.
Such fears were the primary catalyst behind Thursday's sell-off, which spread across the commodities markets. 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 bout of selling, and the decline gathered steam as the day went on.
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 rose 6.21 cent, or 2%, to $3.1575 a gallon. June heating oil climbed 5.12 cents, or 1.8%, to $2.9381 a gallon.
