* U.S. housing, retail data positive, lifts oil
* New U.S. jobless claims up, limits oil's gains
* Euro up versus dollar on talk ECB buying bonds
* ECB keeps rate unchanged, extends bank safety net
* Coming Up: U.S. November employment report, Friday,
8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT)
(Recasts, updates prices and market activity, adds new
by-line, changes dateline, previously LONDON)
By Gene Ramos
NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Oil prices rallied on both
sides of the Atlantic on Thursday as the dollar weakened
against a basket of currencies, prompting investors to buy
riskier assets such as oil and other commodities.
Oil investors also took the cue from Wall Street, which
cheered upbeat U.S. data on housing and retail sales,
indicating the economic recovery was getting traction and
boding well for future oil demand.
U.S. unemployment benefit claims rose last week, but the
closely watched four-week average touched a two-year low,
making oil investors reconsider an earlier knee-jerk reaction
to the weekly data. []
U.S. crude for January delivery <CLc1> gained $1.05 cents,
or 1.2 percent, at $87.80 a barrel, by 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT)
after striking a session high of $87.95, the highest since Nov.
11.
In London, ICE January Brent crude <LC0c1> jumped above $90
a barrel, the highest since October 2008 and was trading at
$90.48, up $1.61 or 1.81 percent.
For a second day, gasoline futures were leading the U.S.
energy complex. The January RBOB contract <RBF1> rallied due to
tight supply in the East Coast, hitting the highest level in
seven months.
"Gasoline is leading the way, with regional pricing issues
in the East Coast pushing up prices there due to supply
tightness," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in
Stamford, Connecticut.
The dollar fell as the euro rallied in volatile trading on
reports that the European Central Bank was buying bonds of
Portugal and Ireland, easing some concerns about the region's
fiscal troubles. [] []
Uncertainty still remains, however, about the outlook of
peripheral euro zone countries.
Earlier, the euro fell after ECB President Jean-Claude
Trichet disappointed investors as he did not announce a more
aggressive policy in response to the euro zone debt crisis.
At its Thursday meeting, the ECB kept its key interest rate
at a record low of one percent and pledged to extend its
liquidity safety net for banks at least until April next year.
U.S. JOBS SEEN RISING
Oil investors were gearing for Friday's U.S. employment
report for November.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls likely increased last month by
140,000, extending the rise to a second month amid strong gains
in private hiring reported on Wednesday, according to a
Reuters poll. The data is due Friday morning. []
Even with improving labor market conditions, however, the
unemployment rate was expected to remain at a lofty 9.6 percent
for a fourth straight month.
U.S. crude oil prices are less than a dollar way from the
$88.63 year's peak hit on Nov. 11, itself the highest since
prices hit $89.82 on Oct. 9, 2008.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs said U.S. crude prices are
likely to average $100 a barrel in 2011 and $110 a barrel in
2012 on the back of a "new structural bull market."
"We expect in 2011 and 2012 that the transition from a
cyclical recovery to a new structural bull market will lead to
new record annual average prices above the 2008 high of just
under of $100 a barrel," Goldman said in a Dec. 1 report.
On Wednesday, U.S. crude oil inventory data from the Energy
Information Administration showed a surprise gain of 1.1
million barrels. Stocks at the key delivery point in Cushing,
Oklahoma, rose by 910,000 barrels to 34.5 million barrels, the
EIA said.
Separately, industry data provider Genscape said in a
report on Thursday that oil stored at the hub, fell by 416,301
barrels to 36.71 million barrels in the week to Nov. 30.
[]
(Additional reporting by Zaida Espana in London and Alejandro
Barbajosa in Singapore; editing by Marguerita Choy)
