U.S. light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 52 cents or 0.5 percent to $106.75 a barrel by 0006 GMT after having leapt $2.40 a barrel on Friday, recouping all of the week's earlier losses as investors sought shelter from the falling U.S. dollar.
The dollar fell on Friday after a U.S. government report showed employers slashed payrolls a third straight month in March, cutting 80,000 jobs, the biggest monthly decline in five years. But it recouped much of its losses later on Friday, as traders said the data was not a big surprise.
Investors have been shifting funds toward the commodities sector for years, a trend that many analysts see continuing as they seeking protection from inflation.
"The key driver will be continued financial investors inflows into oil," said Societe Generale in a report, reasserting their $107.50 forecast for average oil prices in the second quarter.
"On balance, we take comfort in the fact that front-month crude prices appear to have found a floor at $100, and appear to be trending sideways."
Gains were also fueled by news of a fire at Exxon Mobil's 150,000 barrel per day Los Angeles-area refinery in Torrance, California, which forced the closure of a hydrotreater, raising concerns about summer gasoline supplies.
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