Video

Wall Street is keeping its eye on the oil market. Crude oil is struggling to hold $100 a barrel after cracking the milestone again on Thursday and coming within 2 cents of the mark overnight. Weekly inventory data out of the U.S. not giving oil prices that much support. Crude supplies were down for the 7th week in a row as expected, but distillate supplies - which include home heating oil - surprisingly up for the first time in four weeks. The initial response in the oil pits is negative. It is a different story for equities. Economic fears are easing a bit after a stronger-than-expected rise in factory orders in November. The improved sentiment is also bolstered by positive signs coming from the labor market. There was a big drop in jobless claims last week......a private report suggests okay job growth last month...while another private survey showed a steep fall in layoff announcements at the end of the year. The three pieces of data are lifting hopes for Friday's key government employment report. For Reuters, I'm Conway Gittens.