* Crude futures settle higher, recovering after fallingearly * Brent/U.S. crude spread narrows, after widening early NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - Cash crude differentials in theUnited States were mixed on Friday in thin volume as oil futuresand the trans-Atlantic spread between Brent and U.S. crudefutures saw choppy trading, according to traders and brokers. Crude oil futures ended higher, recovering from lossesintraday, as data pointing to modest gains in U.S. hiring gaveequities on Wall Street a boost and supported oil prices. Brent's premium to U.S. crude ended at $8.53 abarrel based on July contract settlements, after ending at $8.85on Thursday. But the spread traded from $8.43 to $9.24 on Friday. Thespread has narrowed after reaching $10.01 intraday on Wednesdayand $10.06 on Tuesday. Usually, the wider the arbitrage, the more supportive forU.S. cash crude differentials, while a narrower spread oftenpressures differentials. This holds especially true for sweetgrades that are priced in line with global waterborne crudessuch as Brent. Brokers and traders said many of the cash crude tradescompleted on Friday at stronger differentials were completedwhen the spread was wider. Trading volume was thinned because of an industry gatheringin Houston, traders and analysts said. CASH CRUDE TRADES Light Louisiana sweet for July delivery traded at$9.25 and $9.60 over the U.S. July crude futures, alsoknown as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which is the U.S. light,sweet crude contract's benchmark grade deliverable at theCushing, Oklahoma, hub. Those trades were completed at stronger differentials afterThursday's trades at $8.85, $8.95 and $9.00 over the benchmark. August barrels of LLS traded on Friday at $8.60 over thebenchmark, stronger after Thursday's trades completed at $8.10and at $8.15 over the futures benchmark. Mars sour , a Gulf of Mexico-produced grade, traded at$4.50 over the benchmark futures, stronger after Thursday'strades at $4.20 and $4.25 over. Eugene Island crude traded at $6.90 over thebenchmark, stronger after trading on Thursday at $6.20 over. Bakken crude at the Minnesota hub traded at $1.25under the futures benchmark, stronger than buyers' offers peggedon Thursday at $2.50 under the benchmark. MIDLAND GRADES West Texas Intermediate crude at Midland traded at 10cents under the futures benchmark, weaker after trading onThursday at 5 cents over and flat to the benchmark. West Texas Sour crude, also at Midland, had itsbid-offer spread pegged at 10 cents under to 10 cents over thebenchmark, straddling Thursday's trades at 5 cents under and 10cents over. CRUDE FUTURES Brent July crude rose 95 cents, or 0.92 percent, tosettle at $104.56 a barrel, having traded from $102.89 to$105.01. U.S. July crude rose $1.27, or 1.34 percent, tosettle at $96.03 a barrel, having traded from $93.72 to $96.39. (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; editing by Carol Bishopric)
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