U.S. oil futures trade near 6-week high after upbeat China trade data

U.S. oil futures traded near a six-week high on Monday, after better-than-forecast growth in Chinese exports helped ease concerns over the global economic outlook.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD97.92 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.3%. New York-traded oil futures traded in a range between USD97.63 a barrel and USD97.95 a barrel.

The January contract rallied to USD98.07 a barrel on Friday, the highest since October 29, before settling at USD97.65 a barrel, up 0.28%.

Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at USD97.08 a barrel, the low from December 6 and resistance at USD98.51 a barrel, the high from October 29.

Data released on Sunday showed that China’s trade surplus widened to USD33.8 billion last month from a surplus of USD31.1 billion in October, compared to estimates for a surplus of USD21.7 billion.  

Chinese exports climbed 12.7% from a year earlier, beating expectations for a 7.1% increase and following a 5.6% gain in October. Imports rose 5.3%, compared to forecasts for a 7.2% increase.

On Monday, a government report showed that consumer price inflation in China rose 3% in November, in line with expectations and slowing from 3.2% in October.

Market players now looked ahead to a raft of Chinese economic data later in the week, including reports on inflation, industrial production and retail sales.

China is the world's second largest oil consumer after the U.S. and has been the engine of strengthening demand.

Meanwhile, the Friday’s upbeat U.S. jobs data continued to support market sentiment.

The U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November, well above expectations for jobs growth of 180,000. The unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 7.0%.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for January delivery inched up 0.05% to trade at USD111.63 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts narrowed to USD13.71 a barrel.