Brent hovers near $60, up almost 4 pct on week

By Adam Rose BEIJING (Reuters) - Benchmark Brent crude hovered around $60 in Asia on Friday, up almost 4 percent this week as news of deeper industry spending cuts and a sinking U.S. dollar revived buying. Brent crude for April delivery was trading up 95 cents at $60.23 by 0704 GMT, after briefly gaining more than $1. March Brent futures, which expired overnight, rose more than 4 percent to $57.05 on Thursday, following a 3-percent loss in the previous day's session. U.S. crude futures were up 77 cents at $51.98, following similar swings earlier in the week. "Brent April 15 seem to be trending very near to the resistance of $60.40 suggesting that it would more likely trend downwards as prices consolidate after yesterday's rise," Daniel Ang of Phillip Futures in Singapore wrote in a note. Wang Tao, a market analyst at Reuters, said Brent would test resistance at $63.40. Asian markets were buoyed by news of a ceasefire in Ukraine and plans for a meeting between Greece officials and creditors. German quarterly gross domestic product growth came in on Friday higher than forecast, potentially adding support to prices. Eurozone GDP is due later in the day. Oil price volatility this week reached its highest level since the financial crisis, jolting traders who had been adjusting to a period of predictable declines following a near 60-percent crude crash between June and January. The discount for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) versus Brent crude also expanded to around $7.33 a barrel intraday, the widest in five months, as U.S. oil tanks swelled. French energy major Total on Thursday became the latest to announce investment and job cuts following a near-halving of oil prices since June. Meanwhile, the chief executive of Shell warned that supply might not be able to keep up with growing demand as companies slash budgets. Apache Corp, a top U.S. shale oil producer, said it would slash capital expenditures and its rig count in 2015 as the collapse of crude oil prices prompts it to slow drilling, keeping output growth mostly flat.