Crude oil jumps on manufacturing data

NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Bullish news from China, Europe and the United States helped push crude oil closer to $108 per barrel in New York Thursday.

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery added $2.73 to $107.76 per barrel with support from a slew of manufacturing reports that showed growth in China, Britain, the eurozone and the United States.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's policy announcement Wednesday was considered neutral as it contained no hints the Fed would withdraw its $85 billion per month asset purchasing program.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, reformulated blendstock gasoline added 2.48 cents to $3.0211 per gallon. Home heating oil gained 3.6 cents to $3.091 per gallon.

Natural gas lost 5.9 cents to $3.386 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $3.63 Thursday, up from Wednesday's $3.627, the AAA Fuel Gauge report said.