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Iran prepares possible strike on Israel from Iraq, Axios

reports

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US job growth almost stalled in October

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Investors focus US election

(Adds latest prices, changed dateline to New York from London)

By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 1% on

Friday to a one-week high on reports Iran was preparing a

retaliatory strike on Israel from Iraq in the coming days.

Brent futures gained $1.02, or 1.4%, to $73.83 a

barrel by 10:59 a.m. EDT (1459 GMT), while U.S. West Texas

Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $1.05, or 1.5%, at

$70.31.

That put both crude benchmarks higher for a third day in a

row and on track for their highest closes since Oct. 25.

For the week, however, both contracts were still down about

3% after gaining 4% last week.

U.S. news website Axios reported on Thursday that

Israeli intelligence suggests that Iran is preparing to attack

Israel from Iraq within days, citing two unidentified Israeli

sources.

"Any additional responses from Iran might remain restrained,

similar to Israel's limited strike last weekend, hence primarily

intended as a demonstration of strength rather than an

invitation to open warfare," said SEB Research analyst Ole

Hvalbye.

Iran and Israel have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat

strikes within the broader Middle East warfare set off by

fighting in Gaza. Previous Iranian air attacks on Israel on Oct.

1 and in April were mostly repelled, with only minor damage.

Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC) and produced about 4 million barrels

per day (bpd) of oil in 2023, U.S. Energy Information

Administration data showed.

Iran was on track to export around 1.5 million bpd in 2024,

up from an estimated 1.4 million bpd in 2023, according to

analysts and U.S. government reports.

Iran backs several groups that are currently fighting

Israel, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the

Houthis in Yemen.

The U.S. asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire

with Israel to revive stalled talks to end hostilities between

Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with a series of

powerful airstrikes early Friday after issuing evacuation orders

to residents.

Oil prices were also supported by expectations that

OPEC+ could delay December's planned increase to oil production

by a month or more on concern over soft oil demand and rising

supply. A decision could be made as early as next week.

OPEC+ includes OPEC and its allies like Russia.

U.S. JOB GROWTH STALLS

In the U.S., job growth almost stalled in October as labor

strikes in the aerospace industry depressed manufacturing

employment while hurricanes impacted the response rate for the

payrolls survey, making it hard to get a clear picture of the

labor market ahead of next week's presidential election.

Polls show the U.S. presidential race is a toss-up

between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican

former President Donald Trump as the country's next president.

Economists, meanwhile, said they expect the U.S. Federal

Reserve to sort through the job data and cut interest rates by

25 basis points next Thursday.

After hiking rates aggressively in 2022 and 2023 to tame

a surge in inflation, the Fed started to lower rates in

September.

Lower rates decrease borrowing costs, which can boost

economic growth and demand for oil.