Gas Market Update

March natural-gas futures NGH15, +0.81%  fell 6 cents, or 2.3%, to settle at $2.60 per million British thermal units. Early Thursday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported supplies of natural gas fell 115 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 30.

Gasoline Market Update

Reformulated gasoline blendstock for March RBH5, +0.50% —the benchmark gasoline contract—rose 2.9% to $1.525 a gallon, while heating oil for March delivery HOH5, +0.50%  tacked on 2.2% to $1.805 a gallon.

Gold futures slip, but hold above $1,260

Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, but held ground above $1,260 an ounce as traders await key U.S. employment data due this week for hints on demand for metals.

Gold for April delivery GCJ5, +0.29%  shed $1.80, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,262.70 an ounce after gaining $4.20 on Wednesday. March silver SIH5, +0.46% lost 20 cents, or 1.1%, to $17.196 an ounce.

Comex Market Update

Crude-oil futures settled with a more than 4% gain to reclaim the $50-a-barrel level on Thursday, as better-than-expected jobless claims data in the U.S. and a higher economic growth forecast for the European Union helped improve the outlook for energy demand.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude CLH5, +1.41% rose $2.03, or 4.2%, to settle at $50.48 a barrel. Prices lost more than double that amount in the previous session.

Brent crude LCOH5, +0.88%  rose $2.41, or 4.5%, to end at $56.57 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

KLSE Malaysia Opening Market Update

MALAYSIA share prices opened higher on Friday with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index up 5.87 points to 1806.31.

Volume was 30.9 million lots worth RM17.8 million.

Gainers outnumbered losers 122 to 51.