1st LD Writethru: Oil prices rebound after trader buy the dip

Oil prices rebounded strongly Thursday as traders started to buy after sharp decline of the day before.

The U.S. dollar declined against most major currencies on Thursday as economic data from the country came out mixed.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 278,000 in the week ending Jan. 31, an increase of 11, 000 from the previous week's revised level, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

However, the U.S. trade deficit for December is widened sharply. The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Thursday the trade deficit jumped to 46.6 billion dollars, up 6.8 billion U.S. dollars from 39.8 billion dollars in November.

A weaker greenback made the dollar-priced crude less expensive and more attractive for buyers holding other currencies.

Oil prices plummeted Wednesday as U.S. crude inventories increased last week. U.S. crude stockpiles increased 6.3 million barrels to 413.1 million, 55 million barrels more than a year earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Energy Department's statistical arm.

On the other side, a list of energy giants planned to slash investment this year as lower crude prices bite into group profits.

Analysts said there would be a lot of volatility as the supply and demand are on the way of rebalance.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery gain 2.03 U.S. dollars to settle at 50.48 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery moved up 2.41 dollars to close at 56.57 dollars a barrel. Endite