Oil prices steadied on Thursday as economic optimism from data showing that the U.S. service sector and retail sales improved was tempered by disappointing news from the labor market.

U.S. crude prices for October delivery rose 2 cents to $68.07 a barrel by 11:44 a.m. EDT (1644 GMT), after earlier reaching a high of $69.40 on U.S. stock gains and a weaker dollar.

London Brent crude was down 32 cents at $67.34 a barrel.

“Right now, there’s not a whole lot of momentum here in either direction. I think the trend for the week, which has been down, is still in force,” said Tom Bentz, senior commodity analyst, BNP Paribas commodity Futures Inc in New York.

“Everything seemed to kind of slip right after the jobs data,” he added.

U.S. jobless claims fell last week, according to a report released by the Department of Labor on Thursday, but the prior week’s figure was revised up.

The number of

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Oil rose more than $2 to hit a one-month high near $72 on Monday as positive Chinese economic data and firmer equities bolstered hopes of economic recovery and higher energy demand.

U.S. crude rose as much as $2.37 to hit $71.82 a barrel, the highest since July 1. By 1351 GMT, it was trading $1.73 higher at $71.18.

Brent crude gained $1.46 to $73.16.

“We are getting close to the resistance area for crude oil and we need the continued support of equities,” said Olivier Jakob, an analyst at Petromatrix. “As long as this continues, the dips are going to be bought.”

European shares hit a new high for 2009, led by banks. U.S. stocks opened higher.

The latest gain in oil prices brings oil within sight of the 2009 high of $73.38 set in June, where Jakob and other analysts who use past price moves to predict direction see key resistance that prices could struggle to

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Oil prices rose for the third consecutive day on Friday, nearing $72 a barrel, as rebel attacks in Nigeria hit output from the OPEC-member country and economic optimism propelled equities markets higher.

U.S. crude rose 49 cents to $71.76 a barrel by 1515 GMT, having topped $72 earlier. London Brent crude gained 45 cents to $71.51 a barrel.

Nigeria’s main militant group MEND said Friday it had attacked a pipeline operated by Italy’s Agip , close on the heels of previous attacks on facilities operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron . Together, the attacks have cut at least 133,000 barrels of daily output.

Rebels in Nigeria, the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter, have been carrying out attacks on the oil industry for years in what they claim is a struggle aimed at spreading the region’s energy wealth to the poor local communities.

Oil prices also got support from political turmoil in Iran, the world’s fifth largest exporter, in the

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The debate for the past couple of weeks in regard to oil has been is there any real return in demand? a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE54R7NA20090611"Well, we're getting some answers/a. The IEA raised their 2009 demand estimates today in a move that helped firm bulls belief in "green shoots." br /br /ulliOil firmed to $72 a barrel on Thursday after the International Energy Agency raised its estimate for 2009 oil demand, adding to signs the fall in consumption may have bottomed out./liliWorld oil demand will contract by less than previously expected this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said as it raised its 2009 forecast for the first time since August 2008./liliOlivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix, said markets were now in a phase of identifying green shoots of economic recovery. The IEA report "will likely be taken as an additional green shoot," he said./li/ulNow as tempting as it may be ...