* U.S. employers cut fewer than expected jobs in April
* Iran says OPEC likely to cut output at next meeting
(Updates prices, recasts, adds fresh quotes)
NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - Oil rose more than 3 percent on
Friday to touch a near six-month high as the results of the
U.S. governments stress test for big banks and U.S. jobs data
added to optimism about the economy.
U.S. crude <CLc1> gained $1.92 to settle at $58.63 a
barrel, after earlier touching $58.69, the highest level since
Nov. 17. Brent crude <LCOc1> settled up $1.67 at $58.14 a
barrel.
Oil, battered as the economic crisis slowed demand and sent
prices down from a record over $147 a barrel in July, has risen
over the past two months as hopes the economic recession may be
easing lifts stock markets.
"Crude futures are higher because people think the sky is
no longer falling. A month ago, you wouldn't think they would
think that way, but now they're buying," said Mark Waggoner,
president of Excel Futures in Huntington Beach, California.
"On the economy, from the middle of the week, we've seen
positive numbers on jobs -- private sector jobs, jobless
benefit claims and now smaller than expected job losses last
month."
U.S. stocks gained after the stress test results fueled
financial stocks, and data showed employers cut
fewer-than-expected jobs in April. []
U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest
since October, signaling the economy's steep decline might be
easing and giving the stock market a boost. []
German exports posted their first rise in six months in
March, according to the country's Federal Statistics Office on
Friday. []
Signs of a potential economic recovery have helped increase
oil prices by around 70 percent from February lows below $34 a
barrel, though analysts say oil's positive correlation to
equities markets could be cut if rising inventories weigh on
crude's rally. []
U.S. crude oil stocks rose to fresh 19-year highs,
according to U.S. government data, while inventories at sea
have surged as well this year.
Iran's OPEC governor said rising stockpiles may force the
oil producer group to reduce its output ceiling when it next
meets on May 28, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.
[]
"The volume of crude stockpiling in the world has risen, in
comparison to the past five years, from an average of 52 days
to 61 days," Khatibi was quoted as saying.
OPEC has already agreed to reduce production since
September by about 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd), or about
5 percent of world supply. It is estimated to have delivered
about 80 percent of those cuts so far.
"The risk for investors is that some markets have got ahead
of themselves and could be vulnerable should the flow of
positive economic data start to deteriorate," Barclays Capital
said in a research note.
"If the recent bout of positive sentiment subsides, prices
might well go through a phase of consolidation in the mid-50s,"
it said.
(Reporting by Matthew Robinson, Robert Gibbons, and Gene
Ramos in New York, Jane Merriman, Maryelle Demongeot and Alex
Lawler in London; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
