Oil prices have continued to escalate following an improvement in the strength of the euro, breaching the $77 a barrel mark for the first time in weeks.
According to the Associated Press, benchmark crude scheduled for delivery next month reached $77 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at midday Singapore time, while London Brent crude hit $77.22 on the ICE futures index.
"Clearly, the price of oil is rallying due to a huge upswing in the Dow Jones and a weakening of the dollar index," Sander Capital Advisors' Mike Sander explained. "If that trend continues, oil could go back above $80."
The boost to crude costs came after markets across Asia enjoyed strong rallies yesterday (May 15th), with Japanese stocks leading the charge and experiencing a two per cent climb.
Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency revised its earlier oil production forecast upwards and predicted output will increase to 86.4 million barrels per day by the end of the year.
