LONDON (SHARECAST) - Oil prices rose more than $6, as the dollar slipped and US shares enjoyed a pre-presidential result surge.
Light crude oil rose $6.62 to close at $70.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Reports that members of oil cartel OPEC had started to carry out planned production cuts also fuelled demand for the black stuff.
There had been some concern that some OPEC countries were not fully committed to the production cuts but as reports said Saudi Arabia has slashed exports by 900,000 barrels per day and Iran was about the make cuts of 199,000 barrels a day, commodity traders weighed up concern about falling demand and a drop in supplies.
Many analysts believe however that longer term, amid the global recession, demand for oil will continue to fall and more OPEC cuts will be needed to stabilise oil prices.
Traders will be looking ahead to Wednesday’s weekly government report on supplies with analysts expecting a 500,000 barrel increase in US crude.
Commodities advanced across the board with gold for December delivery surging $30.50 to settle at $757.30 an ounce on the Comex division on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A sharp fall in the dollar against major currencies and a smart rise in oil prices gave metals a boost with copper for December delivery racing 11.8 cents higher at $1.958 a pound. December silver jumped 38 cents to close at $10.13 an ounce.
