Oil Retreats on Greater Than Anticipated U.S. Jobless Claims

Crude oil retreated after more Americans than anticipated filed claims for jobless benefits last week, spurring skepticism about the strength of the recovery from the country’s worst recession since the 1930s. Oil futures dropped more than $1 from the day’s highs after the Labor Department reported that applications for jobless benefits fell by 4,000 to 570,000 in the week ended Aug. 29, exceeding the 564,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Crude advanced earlier as the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 4.8 percent, the most since March 4. “The oil market is taking its direction from what happens with equities,” said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.....Read the complete article