Crude gained on speculation the Federal Reserve will loosen monetary policy to spur growth and members of OPEC will leave their production ceiling unchanged.

Oil advanced as much as 1 percent as a worse-than-expected jobless claims report fueled expectations that Fed policy makers will announce new stimulus measures after a meeting next week. OPEC oil ministers in Vienna are deciding whether to keep a 30 million-barrel-a-day limit.

Oil for July delivery gained to $83.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures fell to $82.62 yesterday, the lowest settlement since Oct. 6. Prices have decreased 16 percent this year.

Brent oil for July settlement, which expires today, rose 1 cent to $97.14 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The more active August contract increased 14 cents to $96.86 a barrel.

The price of gold rising on Thursday amid expectations of investors additional incentives of the U.S. economy, as well as fears of further deterioration of the debt crisis in the eurozone.

Weak statistical data from the U.S., published the day before, revived the hopes of the bidders for additional easing of monetary policy in the United States. So, on Wednesday it was reported that retail sales in the country in May declined by 0.2%. Despite the fact that the rate coincided with the forecasts of analysts, data disappointed investors since the April growth rate of 0.1% was revised downward to minus 0.2%.

Thus, the sales decline for two consecutive months for the first time since 2010.In addition, the demand for safe assets such as precious metals, supported by investors' fears of further economic deterioration in the eurozone. On the night of Thursday the international rating agency Moody's lowered the sovereign credit rating by two notches of Cyprus - to "Ba3" from "Ba1", as well as the rating of Spain at once on three levels - to "Baa3" from "A3".

The June gold futures on the COMEX today rose to 1626.4 dollars per ounce.

Gold 1,611 +14 +0.88%

Oil 83.45 +0.75 +0.91%