Crude pares earlier losses and moves up

Crude ends flat for the week Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday, 07 September 2012 at Nymex shaking off earlier weakness as disappointment over the U.S. nonfarm payroll numbers gave way to hope the negative report would usher in faster stimulus measures. The low dollar also aided in prices moving up. Light and sweet crude for October delivery rose 89 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $96.42 a barrel on Friday. On the week, however, oil was closer to flat, down less than 0.1%. Latest data from the Labor Department at Wall Street showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 96,000 in August, 2012. This came in well below market estimates around 125,000 and compared to July's revised growth of 141,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1%, down from 8.3% in July, as more people checked out of the workforce. The dollar index, whch weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by almost 0.8% on Friday. The dollar fell in the wake of Draghi's monthly news conference Thursday. Among other energy products on Friday, October gasoline rose 3 cents, or 1%, to $3.02 a gallon, while October heating oil added 1 cent, or 0.2% to $3.15 a gallon. Gasoline gained 1.6% on the week, its sixth consecutive week of gains. Heating oil declined 1% this week, snapping a five-week winning streak. Natural gas also for October delivery declined 9 cents, or 3.4%, to $2.68 per million British thermal units. Prices declined 4.2% on the week, with the product down for six out of the past seven weeks.