Investing.com - Crude oil prices held stead in Asia on Friday with events in the Ukraine in focus.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in June traded at $101.92 a barrel, down 0.02%, after hitting an overnight session low of $101.43 a barrel and a high of $102.35 a barrel.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange Thursday rose $1.22, or 1.1%, to $110.33 a barrel, the highest price since March 3. Light, sweet crude for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up 50 cents, or 0.5%, at $101.94 a barrel.
Overnight, crude futures rosey after tensions between Russia and Ukraine heated up, with Moscow threatening action if Kiev continues to crackdown on separatists.
Ukraine military forces killed five separatists earlier, while Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Kiev against stepping up its offensive against the rebels.
Concerns that the West may impose new sanctions against Russia stoked fears over possible supply disruptions. Russia is the world’s second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile in the U.S., positive data sent prices gaining as well.
The Commerce Department reported earlier that U.S. orders for durable goods rose 2.6% in March, beating expectations for a 2% gain.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 2% last month, far outpacing forecasts for a 0.6% gain.
Separately, the Labor Department said the number of individuals who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. in the week ending April 19 rose by 24,000 to 329,000. Analysts had expected an increase of 5,000.
Despite the increase, underlying trends still point to recovery in the labor market, giving investors room to shrug off the data and stick with oil under the assumption the U.S. economy is on the mend and will demand more fuel and energy going forward.