Crude oil futures pared losses sparked by a surging dollar, as the focus shifted toward key U.S. nonfarm payroll data.

Participants were awaiting further cues about economic recovery in the U.S., after a volatile trading week in which economic optimism surged, and then plummeted. Oil prices skidded 5% in New York Thursday.

“Today hopes must be high for some positive nonfarm payroll data to undo some of the damage done yesterday,” London-based brokerage PVM Oil Associates said in a note. “However, all the work done by the positive manufacturing data that sparked this week’s rally has been undone, and we’re pretty much back to last Friday’s closing levels.”

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