Oil Closes At Record High $105

Oil Hits New Record Above $106
Oil prices jumped to a new record above $106 (U.S.) Friday but settled lower, extending their recent pattern of choppy trading after a weak U.S. jobs report convinced many traders that the Federal Reserve's interest rate cutting campaign will continue. Employers cut 63,000 jobs in February, the biggest drop in five years, the Labour Department said. Investors can react to such news in one of two ways: by selling on the prospect that the economy, and demand for oil, is cooling, or by buying on a conviction that bad economic data makes it more likely the Fed will cut rates.