Oil falls from 6-week high
Prices slip on strong dollar after U.S. government says job losses slowed in July, raising bets economy is on mend.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Oil fell from a six-week high Friday, pressured by gains in the dollar following the release of better-than-expected U.S. job-loss numbers.
U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to a government report, adding to optimism that the world's largest economy was turning around.
"The jobs report was a mixed bag for crude traders. On the one hand, it was good for fundamentals for people to be working and able to buy things," said Chris Jarvis, senior analyst at Caprock Risk Management in Hampton Falls, N.H.
"But it could mean that Europe will be seen as the lagging market and get people to short the euro, and a stronger dollar longer term, and put some pressure on commodities."
U.S. crude traded down 23 cents a barrel to $71.71 a barrel, after briefly touching a six-week high of $72.84.
The drop came as the dollar gained against the euro and the yen, putting pressure on commodities denominated in the greenback. Wall Street gained following the release of the U.S. jobs data.
The economic crisis has damped fuel demand, pushing crude from record highs near $150 a barrel in July 2008 to below $33 a barrel in December.
Oil prices have found support from optimism a potential turnaround in the economy could boost flagging fuel consumption, although global inventories of crude remain high, especially in top consumer the United States.
The world's biggest independent oil tanker shipping group Frontline on Thursday said about 50 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) were storing nearly 100 million barrels of crude at sea, particularly in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Europe.
Industry sources on Friday also told Reuters Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) was expected to store around 2.6 million barrels of gas oil on ships off Europe. 
