Battered Jobs Market

(Reuters) - Markets extended gains in Asia on Tuesday with investors hunting for bargains in shares beaten down to 2012 lows late last week, as hopes grew that Europe could agree on fresh action to tackle its debt crisis while promoting growth. A Chinese media report saying Beijing will accelerate infrastructure investments to combat slowing growth lifted Hong Kong and Chinese shares by 1.2 percent .HSI and 0.6 percent .SSEC respectively. European shares looked likely to extend gains, with financial spreadbetters predicting that major European markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI would open as much as 1.0 percent higher. U.S. stock futures were up 0.1 percent. .EU .L .N MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS climbed 1.4 percent, having recovered on Monday from a ...

Brent crude rose on Thursday, with prices staying above $124 a barrel on hopes that Greece would win enough creditor support to avoid a messy default and promising jobs data from top oil consumer, the United States. Oil recovered from Tuesday's losses after major banks and pension funds showed their support for Greece's bond swap offer to private creditors, spurring optimism that the deal will pass and clear the way for a bailout package to avert an immediate default on its debt. Front-month Brent climbed 14 cents to $124.26 a barrel by 0646 GMT, after settling $2.14 higher at $124.12 in the previous session. U.S. crude was up 14 cents at $106.30 a barrel, after settling $1.46 higher at $106.16. "There are still a lot of uncertainties on Greece ahead of today's deadline and the market ...

(Reuters) - Oil rose above $125 a barrel on Thursday, on expectation that Greece would win enough creditor support to avoid a messy default on its debt, and after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said talks of sanctions against Iran were 'delusional'. Crude recovered from losses earlier in the week after a Greek government official said its bond swap offer was going well as banks and funds showed support, spurring optimism that the deal will pass and clear the way for a bailout package to avert an immediate default. Front-month Brent added $1.21 to $125.33 a barrel by 1227 GMT, having touched earlier intra-day highs of $125.58. U.S. crude was up 78 cents at $106.94 a barrel, off slightly from earlier highs of $107.16. Analysts said Greece would likely remain a source of ...

(Reuters) - Brent crude rose on Thursday, with prices staying above $124 a barrel on hopes that Greece would win enough creditor support to avoid a messy default and promising jobs data from top oil consumer, the United States. Oil recovered from Tuesday's losses after major banks and pension funds showed their support for Greece's bond swap offer to private creditors, spurring optimism that the deal will pass and clear the way for a bailout package to avert an immediate default on its debt. Front-month Brent climbed 14 cents to $124.26 a barrel by 0646 GMT, after settling $2.14 higher at $124.12 in the previous session. U.S. crude was up 14 cents at $106.30 a barrel, after settling $1.46 higher at $106.16. "There are still a lot of uncertainties on Greece ahead of today's deadline and ...

(Reuters) - Oil rose on Thursday, with prices staying above $124 a barrel, on hopes that Greece would win enough creditor support to avoid a messy default on its debt and on continuing fears of supply disruptions from Iran. Oil recovered from losses earlier in the week after a Greek government official said its bond swap offer was going well as banks and funds showed support, spurring optimism that the deal will pass and clear the way for a bailout package to avert an immediate default. Front-month Brent climbed 66 cents to $124.78 a barrel by 0858 GMT, having touched earlier intra-day highs of $125.13. U.S. crude was up 56 cents at $106.72 a barrel. "Greece has certainly lent support to the euro, that in turn has spurred commodities, specially the dollar-denominated commodities to ...

(Reuters) - Brent crude rose on Thursday, with prices staying above $124 a barrel on hopes that Greece would win enough creditor support to avoid a messy default and promising jobs data from top oil consumer, the United States. Oil recovered from Tuesday's losses after major banks and pension funds showed their support for Greece's bond swap offer to private creditors, spurring optimism that the deal will pass and clear the way for a bailout package to avert an immediate default on its debt. Front-month Brent climbed 14 cents to $124.26 a barrel by 0646 GMT, after settling $2.14 higher at $124.12 in the previous session. U.S. crude was up 14 cents at $106.30 a barrel, after settling $1.46 higher at $106.16. "There are still a lot of uncertainties on Greece ahead of today's deadline and ...

New claims for unemployment benefits were unchanged last week, holding at the lowest level since the early days of the 2007-2009 recession and giving a fresh sign the battered labor market is healing. Workers filed 351,000 initial claims for state unemployment benefits, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's figure was revised up to 351,000 from the previously reported 348,000. The last two weekly readings have been the lowest since March 2008. The four-week moving average for new claims, a measure of labor market trends, fell 7,000 to 359,000 - also the lowest since March 2008. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast initial claims rising to 354,000. With weekly claims approaching levels last seen before the recession that began in December 2007, economists say ...

Brent crude rose above $112 on Friday as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that the Iran would retaliate over an oil embargo "at the right time". Khamenei said Tehran would not yield to international pressure to abandon its nuclear program. "Sanctions will not have any impact on our determination to continue our nuclear course ... In response to threats of oil embargo and war, we have our own threats to impose at the right time," Khamenei told worshippers in a speech broadcast live on state television. By 4:46 a.m. ET, front-month Brent crude was 33 cents up at $112.40 a barrel, gaining for a fourth consecutive day. U.S. crude rose by 50 cents to $96.86 a barrel, reversing five straight sessions of losses. "This newsflow should continue to build a Brent premium, and could ...

Brent crude held above $112 on Friday as reports that Israel could strike Iran in the spring heightened already simmering tensions in the region. The market was held back by caution ahead of key U.S. jobs data, which with dragging talks on Greek debt saw Asian shares and the euro weaken. Front-month Brent crude rose 26 cents to $112.33 a barrel by 2:19 a.m. ET, gaining for a fourth consecutive day. U.S. crude increased 6 cents to $96.42 a barrel, reversing five straight sessions of losses. "The oil market is getting driven on a headline by headline basis coming out of the Middle East," Ben Le Brun, market analyst at OptionsXpress, said in a report. "Otherwise across financial markets the focus is on today's employment numbers. Everybody is waiting to see if data out of the United ...