U.S. crude oil prices were trading lower Thursday and stock index prices moved higher as possible tariff exemptions in Canada and Mexico eased trade war fears.

Brent oil futures opened at 64.54 and were trading down 57 cents at 11 a.m. EST.

The April crude oil futures started the session at 61.33 and were trading down by 78 cents.

The stock market opened with losses but quickly rebounded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 134 points at 9:45 a.m. and eased to being up 31 points at 11 a.m. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 82.76 points lower to 24,801.36 after falling more than 300 points.

"Today's market action was impacted by the resignation of Gary Cohn. That creates uncertainty," Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told CNBC on Wednesday. Earnings are still growing, though, helping the fundamental backdrop remain positive, Sandven said.

Cohn, who had opposed President Donald Trump's proposal for aluminum and steel tariffs, resigned Tuesday.

But Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the tariff plan could include exemptions for Mexico and Canada, two key U.S. trade partners.

"There are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada, based on national security, and possibly for other countries as well," Sanders said at a White House press briefing.

On Thursday, Trump wrote on Twitter, "We have to protect and build our steel and aluminum industries while at the same time showing great flexibility and cooperation towards those that are real friends."

He said there would be a meeting scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the White House regarding the U.S. steel and aluminum industries. The White House didn't give any details or when a final decision on tariffs would be announced.

Lat week, initial U.S. jobless claims rose by 21,000 to 231,000 — the highest level in six weeks, the Labor Department announced Thursday. The previous week its dropped to the lowest level since 1969.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly jobs report is scheduled for release Friday.

On Wednesday, ADP and Moody's Analytics said private-sector jobs grew by 235,000 in February, surpassing an estimate of 195,000. This was the fourth month in a row that the private payrolls were 200,000 or above.

"The job market is red hot and threatens to overheat," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's, said in a statement. "With government spending increases and tax cuts, growth is set to accelerate."

Oil prices fall on trade war fears, inventory gains
Washington (UPI) Mar 7, 2018 –

U.S. crude oil and stock index figures shifted lower Wednesday amid global market fears on a trade war, the resignation of President Donald Trump's chief economic adviser and rising inventories.

Brent oil futures opened at 65.56 and were trading down 23 cents at 9 a.m. EST.

The April crude oil futures started the session at 62.30, and was down 22 cents.

One day after Gary Cohn said he would resign his position in the White House, European markets were falling Wednesday. Cohn, a free trade advocate and former president at Goldman Sachs, had opposed Trump's plans for the proposed tariffs on aluminum and steel. Cohn's resignation announcement came after the U.S. markets closed on Tuesday.

"It strengthens the case for a potential trade war," George Wilkes, an analyst at Sucden in London, told S&P Global Platts. "We are not going there yet… but the market is slightly spooked."

Around 8:25 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Dow futures slumped 210 points. The market then dropped 232.12 points lower at the open, but rebounded up 9.36 to 24884.12. On Tuesday, the Dow closed up 9.36.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures also declined sharply.

The U.S. Energy Informational Administration released its short-term forecast Tuesday, forecasting Brent spot prices will average about $62 barrel in 2018 and 2019 compared with an average of $54 per barrel in 2017. And EIA expects West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices to average $4 a barrel lower than Brent prices in 2018 and 2019.

EIA estimated that U.S. crude oil production averaged 10.3 million barrels per day in February, which is an increase of 230,000 barrels per day from the January level, when there were some well freeze-offs in the Permian and Bakken fields.

Inventories of global petroleum and other liquid fuels declined by 0.6 million barrels per day per day in 2017, the agency also reported.

And weekly figures from the American Petroleum Institute released Tuesday showed U.S. crude inventories rose by 5.66 million barrels for the week ending Friday, the second consecutive week-over-week increase.

Several reports are to be issued today, including the U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly report on oil inventories, the Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book and the consumer credit report.