WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices recovered after an early sharp fall on Thursday, but still ended the session on a negative note, amid concerns about the pace of economic recovery and outlook for energy demand.
None too encouraging data on U.S. jobless claims and caution ahead of the closely watched non-farm payrolls data, due tomorrow, prompted traders to cut down positions in the futures contracts.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $0.14 or about 0.3% at $41.37 a barrel.
Brent Crude futures dropped by about $0.30 or 0.7% to $44.13 a barrel.
A report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday said gasoline demand in the U.S. dropped to about 8.8 million barrels per day last week, nearly 0.4 million barrels down from a week earlier.
The EIA report showed domestic crude oil and gasoline supplies declined further during the final week of August, but that was due to the impact of Hurricane Laura, which skewed the results.
Traders also continued to react to the latest ADP report that revealed private payrolls in the U.S. rose at a slower than expected pace in August, raising fears that economic recovery in the country was lagging.
The euro zone's rebound from its deepest economic downturn on record faltered in August, surveys showed earlier today as some countries re-imposed restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
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