NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices edged lower as the dollar rose Thursday after a worse-than-expected drop in home sales contracts and as investors awaited Friday's jobs report.
What prices are doing: Light, sweet crude oil for April delivery fell 66 cents to settle at $80.21 a barrel.
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| Click on the chart to view oil prices. |
Oil neared $81 a barrel Wednesday on a weaker dollar as investors welcomed news that Greece had outlined a plan to cut its deficit.
What's driving prices: The dollar rose against major currencies Thursday, reducing the appeal of dollar-priced commodities such as oil.
Crude was also pressured by stocks, which struggled to hold gains Thursday. Oil traders view the stock market as a leading indicator of economic growth and potential energy demand. As a result, oil prices often follow the major stock indexes.
The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index dipped 7.6% in January to 90.4 from an upwardly revised 97.8 in December. Economists were expecting a 1% rise.
The Labor Department said 469,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance last week, the lowest level since Jan. 9 and down 29,000 from the previous week.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected jobless claims to fall to 470,000.
On Friday, the government releases the February jobs report, expected to show a 20,000 decline in payrolls.
What analysts are saying: "It looks as though on the U.S. side we've seen a pickup in demand, but there are still a lot of uncertainties as to how robust the recovery is going to be," said Andrew Lebow, a broker at MF Global.
"Markets are going to have to keep seeing signs that demand is recovering, and until those become more apparent, the market is going to have trouble sustaining a level above $82 or $84 a barrel, which has been the upper end of this year's range."
Lebow said a surplus of crude supplies, which he expects will climb even higher in the next quarter, will also prevent oil prices from rising above $84 a barrel.
Gasoline prices: The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline rose to $2.706, up three-tenths of a cent from the previous day's price of $2.703, according to motorist group AAA. 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
| Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
| S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
| Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
| Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
| General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
| Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
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