By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — U.S. crude-oil futures retraced their path back above the $100-a-barrel level during Asian trading hours Tuesday, spurred by higher equity markets, a weaker dollar and geopolitical concerns involving Iran. The front-month light, sweet crude-oil futures contract for February delivery CL2G -0.59% climbed to $100.29 a barrel in electronic trading, rising $1.46, or 1.5%, from Friday’s close on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Equity markets rallied across Asia on Tuesday, with Hong Kong and Australian stocks jumping as the bourses there opened for the first time this year. Several regional share markets ended 2011 with hefty losses. Read more about Asian stocks. The U.S. dollar index DXY -0.23% slipped 0.2% to 80.078, reflecting an improvement in investor risk appetite, and lifting commodities that are priced in the greenback, including crude oil. While the U.S. ISM Manufacturing Index due out Tuesday is widely expected to show an improvement in the December reading, analysts said the key economic indicator this week will be the monthly non-farm payrolls data due out on Friday. Crude-oil prices also got a lift from news that Iran test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile during a drill on Monday — on top of another test over the weekend — to prove its control over the Strait of Hormuz, a key channel for crude shipments. Iran’s move came after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran over the weekend. Read about a weekend missile testing by Iran. Among other energy products, the February gasoline contract RB2G -1.11% rose 1% to $2.68 a gallon, and heating-oil futures for the same month HO2G -0.57% added 0.9% to $2.94 a gallon. February natural-gas futures NG12G -1.95% slipped 0.6% to $2.97 per million British thermal units. Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.

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