Crude-oil futures were mixed in Asian trading hours on Friday while financial markets wait for the monthly U.S. nonfarm payrolls later in the trading day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $97.66 a barrel at 0623 GMT–down $0.18 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.09 to $107.28 a barrel. The U.S. employment report will give an indication about the health of the U.S. economy and whether the Federal Reserve will continue reducing the bond-buying program which has helped support commodity prices. The unusually bad weather that affected December’s employment data may have a lesser impact on the labor market in January–and a gain in payrolls of 200,000 is expected which should calm nerves and support markets, Capital Economics said. Brent crude was in positive territory extending overnight gain […]