Oil is set to close above its 100- day moving average for the first time since August, a signal that prices may extend a four-week rally. Oil for April delivery rose as much as $1.11, or 2.4 percent, to $48.14 a barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The 100-day moving average is $47.17. Oil hasn’t settled above the mean of its last 100 closing prices since Aug. 1, when it finished at $125.10. Futures jumped 11 percent yesterday, leaving crude poised for its fourth weekly gain. “Technically, with a reversal that engulfed two days of losses, the picture is quite strong,” PetroMatrix GmbH said in its report today. “It is back to testing the resistance.” Analysts use moving averages to find support and resistance levels. Crude closed yesterday above its averages for five, eight and 13 days, part of “the overall constructive picture,” London-based broker PVM Oil Associates Ltd. said today in a note to clients.

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