LONDON: Stock markets in Europe and the US showed little momentum Thursday as oil prices pushed higher and investors awaited a key US jobs report. The price of oil rose to a 30-month high Thursday as fighters loyal to Muammar Gaddafi pushed back rebels from key areas in eastern Libya. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.45, more than 2 percent, to settle at $106.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. At one point it hit $106.83, the highest it's been since September, 2008. In London, Brent crude rose $2.25 to settle at $117.20 per barrel. Battles between Gadhafi's troops and rebels have seesawed back and forth in Libyan ports and towns since mid-February, with the price of oil rising more than $20 a barrel since then. The euro, meanwhile, was supported by expectations the European Central Bank will raise interest rates next week to combat inflation. Having focused on Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami as well as the uprisings in the Arab world over the past few weeks, traders are turning their attention to fundamental economic indicators, such as the pace of jobs creation in the US. Figures from the ADP payrolls firm Wednesday shored up hopes that Friday's nonfarm payrolls data for March will come in strong and that helped stock markets around the world post solid gains. Weekly jobless claims figures, which Thursday showed a 6,000 fall to 388,000, did little to alter market expectations about Friday's payrolls data. At the moment the consensus in the markets is that payrolls rose by 190,000 during March but that the unemployment rate, which is based on a separate survey, was unchanged at 8.9 percent. The payrolls figures often set the stock market tone for a week or two after their release. They could have an even bigger impact this time as investors gauge when the Fed will begin tightening monetary policy. Recent comments from Fed officials have indicated that interest rates may rise sooner than the markets had previously been anticipating. That has been reflected in the recent subdued performance in US Treasuries.
