* U.S. oil stocks drawdown, French strike support
* Europe economy uncertain
* Coming Up: U.S. Q2 GDP, initial jobless claims; 1230 GMT
(Recasts, changes dateline from SINGAPORE)
By Ikuko Kurahone and Zaida Espana
LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Oil hovered around $78 a barrel
on the last day of the third quarter on Thursday, easing from a
seven-week high hit on Wednesday due to uncertainty over
Europe's economic recovery and ahead of weekly U.S. jobs data.
U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> were trading 12 cents up at
$77.97 a barrel at 0930 GMT. On Wednesday, it rose more than 2
percent to settle at the highest level since mid-August.
ICE Brent crude futures <LCOc1> fell 5 cents to $80.72 a
barrel, after breaking the $80 mark on Wednesday for the first
time since August.
"Consumer sentiment is flat and low on an uncertain outlook
for jobs," Thorbjoern Jensen, oil analyst with Global Risk
Management in Denmark, said. "There are still some worries about
the sovereign credit ratings of some European countries."
On Wednesday, rating agency Moody's downgraded Spain's
credit rating to Aa1 citing slow economic growth, following
similar cuts by Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
European shares slipped for the fourth day, with the
FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares down 0.24
percent by 0900 GMT. [] []
Gold held near a record high. <XAU=>
Some support came from weekly oil data on Wednesday, which
showed sharp drops in oil inventories in the United States.
European product prices rose as a French rolling port strike
at the country's strategic Fos-Lavera oil hub near Marseille
entered its fourth day on Thursday. []
They were blocking a total of 24 oil tankers, the port
authority said.
The French oil industry body on Wednesday said the strike
"seriously threatened" operations at seven refineries in France
and Switzerland. []
Later in the day, the focus of global markets will shift to
weekly jobs data in the United States due out at 1230 GMT.
Jobless rates in the states, the world's top consumer, have
remained relatively high, which darkened the outlook for
economic recovery and oil demand.
The dollar hit an eight-month low against a basket of
currencies. []<.DXY>
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Graphic on oil and commodities performance:
http://r.reuters.com/was95p
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Olivier Jakob with Petromatrix said the oil market might see
heightened volatility on Thursday, which is the last day of the
third quarter.
U.S. crude oil futures are set to post a subdued gain by
less than 1 percent in the third quarter, while they are on
track to close September up 8 percent, the biggest monthly
percentage rise since February.
North Sea ICE Brent crude futures, in contrast, are likely
to close the third quarter with gains of nearly 5 percent.
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB> hit 8-
