NYMEX-Crude steady above $94; US oil stocks, data weigh
PERTH, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures steadied above $94 per barrel on Thursday, after falling the most in more than four months in the previous session as domestic inventories rose to their highest level since 1990 and data pointed to a weak jobs market.
FUNDAMENTALS
* U.S. crude for May delivery rose 6 cents to $94.51 per barrel at 0104 GMT, after dropping by 2.8 percent on Wednesday, its steepest daily decline since Nov. 20.
* Brent crude rose 36 cents to $107.47 per barrel. The May Brent contract fell 3.2 percent in the previous session, its biggest one-day decline since early November.
* U.S. crude oil inventories rose by a larger-than-expected 2.7 million barrels last week, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
* The stocks are now at their highest since 1990, totalling more than 388 million barrels, and are close to the all-time peak hit in 1982 of 391.9 million barrels.
* The shutdown of Exxon Mobil's pipeline which moves crude oil from Illinois to the refinery-rich Texas Gulf Coast may curb efforts to relieve the glut of crude oil in the U.S. Midwest.
* A report from U.S. private-sector employment from payrolls processor ADP showed hiring was its slowest pace in five months in March.
* Iran and six major world powers will hold talks on Tehran's nuclear program on Friday and Saturday in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The lead negotiator in the talks said Iran must respond to an offer made in February to ease trading embargoes in exchange for Tehran's agreement to suspend uranium enrichment.
* U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said there was a "real and clear danger" from North Korea, after the North Korean army said it had "ratified" an attack against the United States and threatened a potential "diversified nuclear strike".
* North Korea can probably restart a mothballed plutonium-producing reactor in six months if it is determined to do so and the site has suffered no major structural damage, but it may take years to produce significant new atom bomb material.
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian stocks eased after weak data stoked concerns the key American jobs report due later in the week will signal slowing U.S. growth, while the yen remained firm ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision this session.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0200 Bank of Japan rate decision
0743 Italy Markit/ADACI Services PMI
0748 France Markit Services PMI
0753 Germany Markit Services PMI
0758 Euro zone Markit Services PMI
0900 Euro zone Producer prices
1145 European Central Bank rate decision
1230 ECB President Mario Draghi holds news conference
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1430 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks
(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr.)