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Oil below USD112 ahead of US data

Friday, October 05 12:32:22

Oil slid below $112 per barrel today as investors awaited data that is expected to show U.S. unemployment is on the rise, reinforcing concern that a fragile global economic recovery is still under threat.

A spate of gloomy figures has already shown a turnaround in China may be delayed and that the euro zone is almost certainly heading into recession. Crude futures fell 3-4 percent in a single, mid-week session on the figures from China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer.

"Mainly it's just investors remaining cautious ahead of the release of the U.S. non-farm payrolls, so it's a little bit of profit taking following yesterday's gains," said Myrto Sokou, senior analyst at Sucden Financial Research.

Brent futures fell more than $1 a barrel and by 0947 GMT were trading at $111.93 - down 65 cents.

U.S. crude futures eased 74 cents to $90.97 per barrel, after climbing nearly 4 percent in the prior session.