By Myra P. Saefong & Polya Lesova, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures rallied past $70 per barrel Tuesday to touch their highest level in two weeks, rebounding after dropping nearly 6% in the previous session as the U.S. dollar weakened and Americans headed to the polls to elect their next president. The "U.S. dollar is getting beaten up today ... sparking sharp buying in all commodities," said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at DTN. Crude oil for December delivery rose $5.98, or 9.4%, to $69.89 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. The contract climbed as high as $70.04, the highest intraday level for a front-month contract since Oct. 21. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude was last up $5.09 at $69. Crude fell 5.8% Monday on Nymex amid ongoing concerns about the impact of a global economic slowdown on energy demand. See full story. "It seems like prices are moving on the 'mood of the day' regarding what is going on from an economic standpoint," said Chip Hodge, a managing director at MFC Global Investment Management. "When we see not so bad or marginally good news, prices [rise] as demand is expected to be better and when we see negative news, prices drop as the perception is that demand will drop and there will be a large build in supply," he said in emailed comments. On Wall Street, U.S. stocks traded solidly higher on Tuesday as voters chose between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama for president and some analysts said bad corporate and economic news is largely priced into the market. See Market Snapshot. In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar fell against other major rivals, with the dollar index at 84.572, down from 86.350 late Monday. See Currencies. Dollar weakness typically boosts dollar-denominated commodities such as crude oil and gold. Taking a tally Indeed, Tuesday's focus is on politics as voters choose which senator they'd like to run the White House for the next four years. The Senate contest also will be in the spotlight as a third of the upper chamber's seats are up for grabs. "Market participants are possibly nervous though ahead of the U.S. election and so we may not see a more significant move in crude until after the result is announced," said Michael Davies, an analyst at Sucden Research, in a note. Most analysts don't expect the oil market to stabilize even after the appointment of the next U.S. president. See Commodities Corner. "I suspect oil prices will fall if Obama wins, and some rise if McCain wins," said Charles Perry, president of Perry Management, an energy-consulting firm. "But [I] don't expect the impact, either way, will happen immediately -- it'll be over the next few months." "This election has created more turmoil than I remember ever occurring before," he said. "There is so much unknown about how the election will go that everyone has had their eyes on short-term moves for the market," said Perry. "With the election behind us, I think traders will start looking more long term." Broad rally Other energy futures rallied along with crude Tuesday.

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