* Dollar near 2010 lows against basket of currencies
* Technicals show new $90-$93 range []
* Coming Up: U.S. Non-farm payrolls Oct; 1230 GMT
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Oil prices, up every day this
week, approached the highs for the year as a new round of
economic stimulus in the U.S. raised the appeal of commodities
to preserve value in an environment of dollar depreciation.
U.S. crude for December <CLc1> touched $86.95 a barrel on
Friday, the highest in six months and just 20 cents away from
the 2010 peak of $87.15 on May 3. It was up 45 cents at $86.94
at 0255 GMT. ICE Brent <LCOc1> gained 57 cents to $88.57.
Markets focused on a monthly U.S. jobs report due later on
Friday, the last before fresh Federal Reserve bond purchases
kick in, while oil prices remained supported by Wednesday's
data showing larger-than-expected drops in U.S. fuel stocks
last week.
"Inventories are getting lower and demand is getting
better, but the issue that we have to look at is the financial
side and the injection of money," said Tetsu Emori, a fund
manager at Tokyo-based Astmax Co Ltd. "That should push up the
oil price. We don't really need to look at the fundamentals."
The dollar struggled near fresh lows on Friday after
breaking down to a new 2010 trough against a basket of
currencies as the Fed's decision rekindled investor appetite
for risk. []
The Fed on Wednesday launched a new round of quantitative
easing, or government debt purchases, to support a struggling
U.S. economy, saying it would buy about $75 billion of Treasury
bonds per month through the end of June 2011 and could adjust
purchases depending on the pace of economic recovery.
U.S. employment probably increased in October for the first
time since May, a Reuters survey showed, but too feebly to
signal a meaningful shift in the almost stagnant labor market.
That should leave the unemployment rate at an elevated 9.6
percent in October. []
New U.S. claims for jobless aid rose last week and a strong
rebound in productivity in the third quarter showed employers
wringing more output from current workers rather than hiring.
[]
Global oil demand next year could bounce back to levels
last seen in 2007 as recovery from the deepest recession in
decades drives fuel use, but the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) does not plan to add extra capacity
as more non-OPEC supply curbs the need. []
An oil price of $90 a barrel would not hold back the world
economy, OPEC's secretary general said on Thursday, a higher
level than previously identified as posing no risk to growth.
[]
JP Morgan on Thursday raised its forecasts for U.S. crude
benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) in 2011 by more than $7
to $89.75 a barrel, while the bank projects Brent will average
$2 higher, after the Fed's decision to embark on new stimulus.
"As we approach the winter, it is no longer appropriate to
talk about burdensomely high inventory levels," JP Morgan
analysts headed by Lawrence Eagles said. "Floating stocks of
crude have been whittled away, and tightening forward spreads
show the crude market to be in draw mode."
Seasonal refinery maintenance and the French strike last
month have depleted oil product stocks, leaving gasoline
inventories at the lower end of their five-year range in OECD
Europe and Asia, according to JP Morgan.
China's top refineries will process a record high volume of
crude oil in November after Beijing hiked fuel prices, as
domestic fuel stocks were running low and diesel shortages were
spreading in some regions. []
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB>, a global
commodities benchmark, rose above 312 points on Thursday to its
highest since October 2008. Gold, a traditional haven for
investors shunning dollars and hedging against inflation, hit a
new record high above $1,390 an ounce <XAU=> and oil climbed to
six-month peaks. []
World stocks soared to highs last seen before Lehman
Brothers' collapse in 2008 and the dollar fell sharply on
Thursday on rising risk appetite in the afterglow of the
Federal Reserve's asset buying plan. []
Japan's Nikkei rose 2 percent to a two-week high on Friday,
as exporters and resource shares gained. []
(Editing by Manash Goswami)
