Crude oil futures rose today as a report published today by the U.S. unemployment raised hopes that on Friday the monthly employment data in the U.S. will mean an improvement in economic conditions in the largest oil consumer in the world.

As it became known, the number of Americans who have applied for the first time for unemployment benefits decreased last week, though, according to the more long-term data, progress in the labor market remains slow. The Labor Department said that the number of jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 11,000, seasonally adjusted, reaching 346,000 in the week ended June 1. This figure is close to the predicted by economists at 345000. Reducing the number of applications is a sign that the labor market continues to steadily recover. However, the data on applications may vary, but a more significant indicator of increased layoffs last week. The four-week moving average, which smooths out the volatility of weekly data, rose by 4,500 to 352,500. These figures show that progress in the labor market is not stable, as the U.S. economy continues to recover in fits and starts. Accelerated the pace of hiring in the beginning of the year, but recent data reports indicate that employers could increase the number of jobs is less active. The number of requests for unemployment benefits increased by five-year lows, which were installed a month ago.

Recall that on Wednesday, the Department of Energy said that crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell by 6.3 million barrels for the week ending May 31, thanks to a sharp drop in imports. Analysts had forecast a drop of 1 million barrels. Separately, the American Petroleum Institute said inventories fell by 464,000 to 387.3 million barrels.

Experts point out that the oil prices are expected to remain within a narrow range at the moment, as ample supplies and demand remains a deterrent global economic recovery.

The cost of the July futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to 94.90 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

July futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose $ 0.79 to $ 103.71 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold prices rose, rising above $ 1,400 an ounce, which helped comments European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, and the decision to leave interest rates unchanged. The head of the Central Bank said that the inflation rate in the euro zone has been volatile in 2013. He assured that the inflation outlook remains "balanced," noting that the CPI growth risks were associated with higher indirect taxes and the prices of raw materials and downstream risks - with the weakness of economic activity. Despite the fact that the Central Bank is expected gradual recovery in economic activity in the second half of 2013, as evidenced by the growth of economic indicators, there are different factors that will contribute to easing - for example the slow implementation of reforms by national governments, as well as weak domestic demand. Central Bank is ready to support demand through monetary policy, which will remain accommodative until it is needed. Draghi said that the EU should carry out structural reforms to boost competitiveness, employment, and reduce the deficit.

Also worth noting is that the dynamics of trade affected by what many investors are waiting for the publication of data on U.S. non-farm payrolls.

Add that previously precious metal came under pressure against the backdrop that the Government of India, the world's largest gold buyer, has decided to increase the tax on imports of the precious metal in the fight with a record level of current account deficit. So duty on import of gold and platinum was increased from 6% to 8%. According to forecasts of Trade Federation All India Gems & Jewellery, in the current year the volume of gold imports may fall by 20%.

Meanwhile, today it was announced that the gold reserves in the SPDR Gold Trust were unchanged on Wednesday, after falling 0.3% in the previous session, which is a four-year lows.

The cost of the August gold futures on COMEX today rose to 1405.10 dollars an ounce.

Change % Change Last

GOLD 1,398.40 1.30 0.09%

OIL (WTI) 93.62 0.31 0.33%