Oil rises above $74 as US jobs report awaited

Oil prices rose above %74 a barrel today in Asia as traders look to a US jobs report this week for clues about the strength of the global economic recovery.

Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 26 cents at $74.23 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 58 cents to settle at $73.97 on Friday.

Trading volume was light as markets are closed in the US today for the Memorial Day holiday.

Oil prices have swung this month between $87 a barrel and $64 as fears that a debt crisis in Europe could spread and undermine the global economy rocked financial markets.

Investors will be eyeing a key US monthly employment report later this week for signs the economic recovery is still on track. Analysts expect the US economy added about 5,00,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate fell to 9.7% from 9.8% in April.

In other Nymex trading in June contracts, heating oil rose 0.70 cent to $2.0115 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.66 cent at $2.0332 a gallon. Natural gas was up 1.4 cents at $4.355 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, the Brent crude July contact was up 36 cents to $74.38 on the ICE futures exchange.