By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures rose nearly 1% in electronic trading hours Monday, after weekend killings in a government attack in Syria raised the temperature in the Middle East.
Oil for July delivery CLN2 +1.15% rose 85 cents, or 0.9%, to $91.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Friday also saw some gains for oil, after signs of some progress on creating euro-area bonds and a lack of resolution in talks between Iran and world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program. Read more on Friday's oil market action.
Attention switched to Syria over the weekend, however, after an alleged government attack on the town on Houla killed at least 109, according to reports. Read more on Syria.
The United Nations Security Council met on Sunday to discuss unfolding developments that brought a six week cease-fire to an end.
With U.S. markets closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, energy analysts at Citi noted that trading volumes were light on Friday with “traders seemingly reluctant to take on fresh positions.”
Still, noting that there has been a “protracted” fall in oil since early March in part due to a robust U.S. dollar, David Morrison, senior market strategist at GFT Markets, commented that “there are signs that crude is now oversold and traders are looking out for a trigger to buy.”
At the same time, the ICE dollar index DXY -0.53% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell back to 81.99 on Monday, from 82.416 on Friday when it reached its highest level since 2010.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
