国际英语新闻：Crude retreats on stronger dollar, profit-taking

NEW YORK, June 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude futures retreated after touching 70 U.S. dollars a barrel on Friday, as investors locked in profits and dollar gained strength.

    Contract price jumped as high as 70.32 dollars a barrel in the early trading as government data showed the pace of layoffs eased. The latest report from the U.S. Labor Department released Friday showed that payrolls fell by 345,000 in May, much smaller than forecast and the least in eight months, which added to evidence that the recession was abating in the United States.

    The gains continued until the dollar rose against the euro which exerted downward pressure on the price of oil.

    Meanwhile, investors began to sell contracts in order to cash out profits from the previous gains.

    Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 37 cents to settle at68.44 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, finishing the week with a gain of nearly two dollars a barrel. London Brent for July settlement lost 67 cents to 68.04 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.