Crude oil futures were lower in midmorning trading in Asia July 3, after hitting a four-month high overnight on better-than-expected US labor market data, as concerns over rising COVID-19 cases continue to cap the upside. At 10:05 am Singapore time (0205 GMT), ICE Brent September crude futures were down 23 cents/b (0.53%) from the July 2 settle at $42.91/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude contract was down by 24 cents/b (0.59%) at $40.41/b. US non-farm payrolls added 4.8 million jobs in June, exceeding market expectations of a 3.2 million gain, and bringing the nationwide unemployment rate down to 11.1% from 13.3%, according to data released July 2 by the US Department of Labor. The improvements in the labor market was largely due to a sharp increase in employment in the leisure […]