By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY(MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures moved higher in electronic trading Monday, as investors’ appetite for riskier asset classes increased.
Crude for October delivery CL1V +0.62% added 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $85.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
The rise extends last week’s gains for oil, with crude getting a slight lift after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered an optimistic assessment of the U.S. economy on Friday. Read more on Bernanke’s speech
Asia stocks also took some comfort in the Fed chief’s speech and moved higher along with oil in Monday’s session. Read more about Asia markets
Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene battered the U.S. East Coast on the weekend causing heavy flooding and killing at least 22 people, according to media reports.
However, the damage to property in New York was not as bad as some analysts had predicted, and most oil refineries in the region escaped major destruction, the reports said. Read more on Hurricane Irene
ConocoPhillips COP +1.13% said it made a controlled shutdown of its refinery in Linden, N.J., on Sunday, according to reports, while other refineries in the region were operating as normal.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
