* Steepest one-day percentage drop since July 29
* Fifth-highest daily trade volume for front-month WTI
* Hedge fund may have unloaded big oil position -traders
* U.S. jobless claims rise more than expected
* ECB president warns of economic "uncertainty"
(Updates with details on possible hedge fund sell-off)
By Christopher Doering and Joshua Schneyer
NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Oil fell 5 percent on Thursday
in the steepest daily drop since July and the fifth-largest
trading volumes ever on the New York Mercantile Exchange as
investors dumped commodities and other risky assets.
Rising U.S. unemployment claims and fear that debt-laden
European economies may falter exacerbated the selling.
Several traders and brokers at different firms said they
suspected the sell-off in crude was also linked to a hedge fund
quickly unloading a big oil position.
More than 496 million barrels worth of front-month NYMEX
crude futures changed hands -- representing enough oil to meet
global demand for six days -- as volumes spiked in afternoon
trade, according to Reuters data.
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For a chart showing the sharp spike in trading volume and
drop in prices around 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT), click here:
http://link.reuters.com/qyn77h
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U.S. crude for March delivery <CLc1> settled down $3.84 a
barrel to $73.14, a drop of 5 percent for the day, the largest
percentage decline since July 29. London Brent <LCOc1> fell
$3.79 to settle at $72.13 a barrel.
The dollar firmed to a seven-month high against the euro as
investors shunned risky assets amid fears over the fiscal
health of European economies including Greece, Portugal and
Spain. [] []
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said
Europe's economic recovery could be uneven and "subject to
uncertainty."
The number of U.S. workers filing initial jobless claims
rose to a more-than-expected 480,000 last week, the Labor
Department said. []
COMMODITY SELL-OFF
The economic concerns pushed gold to its single largest
daily fall since 2008 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
briefly fell below the crucial 10,000 mark as stocks suffered
their worst losses in more than nine months. [] []
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB>, which tracks 19
mostly U.S.-traded commodity futures, saw its biggest daily
loss in nearly six months. []
Oil has dropped more than $11 a barrel since closing at a
15-month high above $84 on Jan. 11, fueled in part by weak
demand and rising inventories in the United States and other
developed economies.
"The underlying fundamentals are coming back to haunt us
now, and oil is falling," said Gene McGillian with Stamford,
Connecticut-based Tradition Energy. "Unemployment numbers were
worse than expected and the euro came under pressure."
The U.S. Department of Energy said on Wednesday that U.S.
crude stockpiles rose sharply last week. []
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in
New York, David Sheppard in London and Alejandro Barbajosa in
Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
