Oil extends gains, supported by surprise U.S. jobs report

TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - Crude prices rose on Monday,
adding to gains in the previous session on better-than-expected
U.S. jobs data, although gains were tempered by worries over the
prolonged Sino-U.S. trade war.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 10 cents, or 0.2%, by
0048 GMT at $64.33. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1
was up 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $57.65 a barrel.
"A very cautious open this morning supported by a better
than expected (non-farm payrolls)," said Stephen Innes, managing
partner at Vanguard Markets in Bangkok. "Traders remain
incredibly cautious about the dimmer global economic overhang."
Both oil benchmarks fell last week as concerns about a
slowing global economy outweighed risks to supply. Brent fell
more than 3% and WTI shed more than 1.5%.
U.S. job growth rebounded strongly in June, with government
payrolls surging, the Labor Department's closely watched
employment report showed on Friday, suggesting May's sharp
slowdown in hiring was probably a one-off. Employers added 224,000 jobs last month, the most in five
months, the report showed.
But the U.S.-China trade war has dampened prospects of
global economic growth and oil demand.
The lack of concrete progress in resolving the acrimonious
trade war between the United States and China, however, means
the bar could be very high for the U.S. Federal Reserve not to
lower borrowing costs at its July 30-31 policy meeting.
White House Economic advisor Larry Kudlow has confirmed top
representatives from the United States and China will meet in
the coming week to continue trade talks. Still, Japan's core machinery orders fell for the first time
in four months in May, posing the biggest monthly drop in eight
months in a worrying sign that global trade tensions are taking
a toll on corporate investment. Oil received some support from simmering tensions over Iran
and after an extension last week to output cuts by OPEC and its
allies.