Oil prices wavered around USD 60 per barrel on Thursday with new consumer and employment data casting a pall over energy markets, but still rose slightly at the close for the first time in more than a week.

Light sweet crude for August delivery rose 27 cents to settle at USD 60.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gasoline delivery rose by 3.05 cents to settle at USD 1.6638 a gallon and heating oil for August delivery dropped less than a penny to settle at USD 1.5344 a gallon.

Natural gas for August delivery rose 5.5 cents to settle at USD 3.408 per million British thermal units.

In London, Brent prices gained 67 cents to USD 61.10 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.