•Crude futures started lower into European morning trading Thursday, trimming the more than $4/b gains in late Wednesday trading following the release of weekly US petroleum stock data.

•The downward correction came in line with a recovery by the US dollar ahead of Friday's eagerly awaited US employment data. Moreover, analysts expect gasoline, the leader of yesterday's rally, to start reflecting bearish fears of weakening fuel demand in the US due to the economic slowdown.

•Yesterday's [US stock] data was full of surprises," Rob Laughlin of MF Global said in a comment. "The whopping crude build caught everyone's eye before the gasoline draw evened things up. The market digested the data and most observers felt the data was neutral to bearish but the market got into bullish overdrive and there was no stopping it." The US EIA Wednesday reported a 7.4 mil barrel build in US crude inventories and a 4.5 mil barrel draw in gasoline stocks."

Updated: April 3, 2008