* Brent up 18 cents after wild ride; U.S. crude rises 50
cents
* Market awaits U.S. jobs, rig count data on Friday
(New throughout, updates prices and market activity to s how
Brent recouping losses to settle higher)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices inched higher on
Thursday in see-saw trade, tracking gains in Wall Street
equities for a second straight day despite a weekly build in
U.S. crude inventories that weighed on the outlook for oil.
Reprising Wednesday's volatility, crude oil futures rallied
more than $2 a barrel, then retreated. Global benchmark Brent
slipped into negative territory before edging up to settle
modestly higher.
"Early strength and a late fade," Donald Morton, an oil
trader with Fairfield, Connecticut-based Herbert J. Sims & Co.,
said, describing the action.
Brent's front-month contract LCOc1 , settled up 18 cents at
$50.68 a barrel. At one point during the session it had risen
above $52.
U.S. crude's front-month CLc1 gained 50 cents, settling at
$46.75. It went above $48 earlier.
The market staged an early rally on Wall Street, then
sputtered on caution over a U.S. jobs report due on Friday that
will probably influence the Federal Reserve's decision on a
potential interest-rate hike. .N
Adding to early support for oil was the European Central
Bank's pledge to keep monetary policy after weak inflation and
growth forecasts. ID:nL5N1190VG
In China, markets closed for public holidays for the rest of
the week, lending calm to oil and other assets battered by last
month's tumble in Chinese equities.
Oil prices remained under pressure though, from Wednesday's
U.S. government data showing crude stocks swelling 4.7 million
barrels in the latest week, the biggest weekly rise since April.
On Friday, the market will also watch the U.S. oil rig count
for direction. The rig count has risen for six consecutive weeks
so far, and any drop could bolster oil's price outlook. RIG/U
Oil prices have been a wild ride over the past two weeks.
U.S. crude plunged to a 6-1/2-year low of $37.75 early last
week, then climbed almost 28 percent over three trading sessions
into Monday. It has since retraced much of that three-day gain.
Traders and analysts braced for more volatility ahead.
"Oil is technically exhausted after being whipsawed
violently over the past few weeks," said Chris Jarvis, analyst
at Caprock Risk Management in Frederick, Maryland.
"Bulls have little to hang their hat on and shorts have just
been taken to the cleaners. Both bears and bulls have gone to
their respective corners for a breather."