SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Global oil prices were marginally up in Asian trade Friday mainly on positive US economic report but stayed below $80 a barrel mark.

Light sweet crude for December delivery was seen trading at $79.77 a barrel at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $ 78.58 a barrel at the same time.

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However, analysts said wariness ahead of monthly jobs data from the United States limited gains and kept its price below the psychologically key $80 level.

Despite data showing jobless claims in the US fell to a 10-month low last week and non-farm productivity rose at its fastest pace in six years in the third-quarter, oil prices fell nearly 1% yesterday as high fuel inventories in the United States raised worries about a recovery in oil demand.

Light sweet crude for delivery in December sank 78 cents to close at $79.62 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for December delivery shed 90 cents to settle at $77.89 a barrel.

The labour market is being closely watched as analysts try to gauge the strength and durability of a government stimulus-driven recovery that started in the third quarter and probably ended the worst US recession since the 1930s.

A higher-than-expected jobless rate or a bigger loss of jobs than forecast could rattle investors on Wall Street and the energy complex, and send them fleeing into the safe haven of US government bonds and the US dollar.

Weekly inventory data on Wednesday showed that US distillate stocks fell 400,000 barrels compared to analyst expectations for a 1 million-barrel decline.

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