Crude rebound eases markets but concerns linger

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil bounced back from its lowest level since November on Friday on the likelihood key producers could extend output cuts beyond an agreed-on June deadline, while a global stocks index set a fresh record high as corporate earnings remained strong.

Markets were rattled overnight as crude stumbled further, its weekly decline close to 10 percent at one point, but comments from Saudi Arabia's OPEC governor Adeeb Al-Aama helped put a floor under oil prices.

"There's an emerging consensus among participating countries on the need to extend the production agreement reached last year," the official told Reuters.

 

OPEC, Russia and other producers have agreed to curb production by 1.8 million barre1ls per day until June 30. OPEC ministers next meet on May 25.

Better-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls data showed jobs growth rebounded sharply last month with 211,000 added and the national unemployment rate down to near a 10-year low of 4.4 percent.

On Wall Street, the energy sector <.SPNY> was posting its strongest daily showing since late March while the benchmark S&P, despite the strong payrolls report, remained in the tight range of the past two weeks.

"OPEC is going to continue the cuts. The question is, is that enough to keep oil prices at a level that is good for business and for producers?" said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.

"Today it has helped to the overall turn on the markets."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 20.29 points, or 0.1 percent, to 20,971.76, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 4.72 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,394.24 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 10.05 points, or 0.17 percent, to 6,085.38.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> rose 0.69 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> gained 0.36 percent after touching a record high.

Emerging market stocks lost 0.24 percent. Overnight, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> closed 0.62 percent lower.

CRUDE REBOUND

Both Brent and U.S. crude fell almost 4 percent overnight on mounting concerns about oversupply. But weekly declines of close to 10 percent were all but halved during trading hours in New York.

Concerns over a slowdown in China have hit other commodities, with Chinese iron ore futures down more than 10 percent to this week's low and copper touching its lowest since January.

Prudential's Krosby said the slide in commodities would not necessarily drag other markets lower "as long as you accept the thesis that it is all about supply."

"But if you add a slowdown in China," she said, "it becomes a demand story.

U.S. crude rose 1.65 percent to $46.27 per barrel and Brent was last at $49.14, up 1.57 percent on the day.

"The energy complex is slowly succumbing to an opinion that this year's OPEC production cuts have been ineffective," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Chicago-based energy advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a note.

"We feel that the (OPEC) cartel has come to a fork in the road in which the current agreement will be abandoned or steps will need to be taken to double down on current efforts by increasing production curtailments."

Copper rose 0.76 percent to $5,585.00 a tonne.

Spot gold > added 0.1 percent to $1,228.12 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.02 percent to $1,228.30 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar hit its lowest level in roughly six months against the euro at $1.0999. The strong U.S. jobs data failed to shake investors' bullishness toward the euro ahead of the second round of France's presidential election.

Analysts said traders are anticipating the euro will rise above a technical barrier of $1.10 if, as expected, centrist Emmanuel Macron defeats anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen in Sunday's vote.

The dollar index <.DXY> fell 0.15 percent, with the euro > up 0.05 percent to $1.0989.

The Japanese yen weakened 0.14 percent at 112.62 per dollar, while Sterling > was last trading at $1.2965, up 0.35 percent on the day.

The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.44 percent versus the greenback at C$1.37 per dollar, after 10 consecutive sessions of declines.

The loonie, the Australian dollar > and Russia's rouble >, among the world's most commodity-sensitive currencies, were all sent spinning overnight but later stabilized.

Benchmark 10-year notes > last rose 1/32 in price to yield 2.3523 percent, from 2.356 percent late on Thursday.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Sam Forgione and Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Nick Zieminski)