FX.co ★ Oil Futures Settle Sharply Higher On Renewed Optimism About Demand

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid some optimism about outlook for energy demand thanks to last week's fairly encouraging non-farm payrolls data.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.82 or about 2.6% at $73.16 a barrel.

Brent crude futures settled at $77.01 a barrel today, gaining $1.71 or about 2.3%.

Data from the Labor Department on Friday showed the U.S. economy added 253,000 jobs in April compared with 165,000 jobs in March. Economists had expected an addtion of 180,000 jobs in April.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. dropped to 3.4% from 3.5%. Economists had expected the rate to rise to 3.6%.