US oil price rises on upbeat U.S. data

U.S. oil price rose Thursday as the country's economic data came in better than expected U.S. import and export prices increased at a faster pace in February, said the Labor Department, with import prices rising 0.9 percent and export prices up 0.6 percent, topping market consensus. A separate report by the Labor Department showed the number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits in the week ending March 8 fell 9,000 to 315,000, beating analysts' expectation. U.S. retail and food services sales in February rebounded 0.3 percent, the January reading was downwardly revised to a 0.6- percent decline, reported the Commerce Department Thursday. Brent crude, which used to set prices for international varieties of crude, was dragged by China's weak economic data. China industrial output rose 8.6 percent year-on-year in January and February, the slowest rate since April 2009, a government report showed Thursday. Light, sweet crude for April delivery moved up 21 cents to settle at 98.2 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery lost 63 cents to close at 107.39 dollars a barrel