Crude oil futures moved with bullish sentiments on Thursday on positive US economic data and weakening greenback. Crude oil futures for June delivery gained 0.8 percent or $0.76 to $98.97 per barrel on New York Mercantile exchange. The contract earlier jumped up to $100 per barrel.

Energy broker Jay Levine from Energay LLC commented, You have the cooling-off period now, after the panic period, Yesterday was a load of selloffs precipitated by a herd mentality with everyone rushing out of the door at the same time.”

The crude oil witnessed some selling pressure in the start of the session on the news of near to zero annual growth in oil demand as disclosed by latest data of International Energy Agency IEA.

London’s Brent crude oil futures contract also surged 0.4 percent or $0.41 to $112.98 on ICE Futures Exchange.

The latest released US economic data created bullish sentiments for commodities. According to the US Labor Department 44,000 request were received for jobless claims for the week ended May 7^th which was much lower than forecasts. Moreover US retail sales also increased in April according to US Commerce Department.

The dollar index DXY which measures the greenback’s performance versus its six major rival currencies declined to 75.242 on Thursday as compared to 75.259 on Wednesday’s North American trading session.

Natural gas futures contract for June delivery also gained $0.01 to $4.19 per million British thermal units.  However gasoline futures contract for June delivery declined 1.9 percent or $0.06 to $3.07 per gallon.