US initial jobless claims fell by 22,000 to 391,000 in the last week. US new home sales fell 12.6pct to 284,000 in January. The weakness in sales follows the expiry of the government tax credit in December. US durable goods orders rose by 2.7pct in January. However excluding transportation, orders fell 3.6pct - marking the biggest fall in two years.

[Get this delivered to your inbox for FREE. Subscribe to our daily Markets Newsletter.]

European shares fell for the fourth straight session on Thursday as the sustained rally in oil prices sparked worries about inflation and growth. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.5pct, the German Dax lost 0.9pct and the UK FTSE lost 0.1pct.

US blue-chip sharemarkets fell for a third straight session but were off their intra-day lows on Thursday. The surge in the oil price remained the key driver. The S&P500 broke through a key technical support and selling accelerated. However markets partially recovered as Saudi Arabia assured European refiners that they could step in to fill any oil supply shortfalls. The CBOE Volatility index fell 5pct. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was lower 37pts or 0.3pct with the S&P 500 lower by 0.1pct, while the Nasdaq rose by 14pts or 0.6pct.

US treasuries rallied on Thursday (yields lower) as the demand for safe-haven assets saw investors switch to bonds. US treasury department sold US$29bn in 7yr notes which found healthy demand. US 2yr yields fell 2pts to 0.73pct while US 10yr yields were lower by 4pts to 3.45pct.

The US dollar tumbled on Thursday, as St. Louis Fed President James Bullard commented that the Fed can ´´never say never´´ to another round of quantitative easing. The Euro rose from early lows near US$1.3705 to highs around US$1.3815, and headed into the US close near US$1.3800. The Aussie dollar rose from US100.00c to US101.25c, and was near US100.95c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen lifted from 82.15 yen per US dollar to around JPY81.60, and was near JPY81.90 in late US trade.

US crude oil prices surged in early trade on Thursday breaching US$103 a barrel. However prices turned negative following Saudi Arabia´s comments. The IEA estimated that the loss in supply would be between 500,000-750,000 barrels a day, less than 1pct of global consumption. US crude stockpiles rose by 822,000 barrels in the past week. The Nymex crude oil contract finished down US82c or 0.8pct to US$97.28 a barrel. And London Brent crude rose by US13c to US$111.38 a barrel.

Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday. The unrest in North Africa continued to hurt risk appetite. However copper bounced from one-month lows up 1.9pct. And the demand for safe-haven gold remained healthy. The Comex gold futures price was up by US$1.80 an ounce to US$1,415.80.

Ahead: In Australia, no economic data is released. Transfield, Roc Oil, Goodman Fielder and Harvey Norman are amongst those reporting earnings. In the US, December quarter GDP and the University of Michigan confidence index are released.

More from Global Markets:
Newsletter: To receive Global Markets update, sign up here