* Prices head for biggest weekly drop since early May
* For a technical view, click: []
* Coming Up: U.S. June non-farm payrolls; 1230 GMT
(Update prices)
By Ikuko Kurahone
LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - Oil dipped below $73 a barrel on
Friday as the broader market remained preoccupied by concerns
over the global economy.
With worries of a double-dip recession uppermost in
investors' minds, U.S. jobs data due later will be watched for
fresh clues on the strength of the recovery.
By 1135 GMT, U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> were down 11
cents to $72.84 a barrel, after touching $72.05 on Thursday, the
lowest intraday price since June 9. ICE Brent crude oil futures
<LCOc1> were 14 cents higher at $72.48.
Prompt U.S. crude had fallen every day this week and is on
course for a slide of over 7 percent on the week, its biggest
weekly drop in percentage terms since early May, when the
European debt crisis hit markets and prompted a 13 percent drop.
"The market still needs to see strong signs of recovery to
move higher," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager
at brokerage Newedge in Japan. "If the jobs number is bad,
prices will extend losses toward $70."
The non-farm jobs data from the United States, the world's
top economy and energy consumer, will be released at 1230 GMT.
Economists forecast a loss of 110,000 jobs in June compared
with an increase of 431,000 jobs in May, partly skewed by a drop
off in temporary workers hired in May to complete the census.
[]
Private payrolls are seen up 112,000, compared with plus
41,000 in May with the unemployment rate at 9.8 percent from 9.7
the previous month. [].
The dollar steadied on Friday after steep losses the
previous day. MSCI's all-country world stock index was up 0.2
percent, about 8 percent lower than it was when a short rally
began petering out on June 21.[] []
A better-than-expected jobs report could spark a bout of
short-covering and provide a bounce for equities and oil ahead
of the long U.S. Independence Day weekend.
But a weak report could benefit the U.S. dollar due to risk
aversion.
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For a graphic for non-farm payrolls
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/US_NFPP0610.gif
For a graphic showing oil's weekly price changes:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ABE_20100207131004.jpg
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Hurricane Alex dissipated over central Mexico, having spared
most oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
Producers on Thursday were already restarting some of the
421,350 barrels per day (bpd) of oil output, about a quarter of
the U.S. Gulf of Mexico total, that were shut as a precaution.
[]
(Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore and Ikuko
Kurahone in London; editing by Keiron Henderson)
