By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Oil futures nudged higher during European trading hours on Wednesday, as a Moody’s Investors Service decision to keep Spain out of junk status calmed nerves in the euro zone, while a softer dollar also provided support.
Crude-oil futures for November delivery CLX2 +0.08% rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $92.16 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the contract settled 0.3% higher on optimism that Spain was one step closer to formally asking for a bailout.
Investors also focused on Spain on Wednesday after Moody’s late the prior day affirmed the country’s credit rating at Baa3, keeping it in investment grade territory for now.
The credit-rating firm, however, assigned a negative outlook to the rating, serving as a reminder that a downgrade is likely if conditions deteriorate further. See: Moody's affirms Spain at Baa3 but outlook negative
Spanish stocks and bonds rallied after the announcement, as market participants had feared Moody’s would lower Spain to below investment grade.
A weaker dollar also lent support to oil prices. The ICE dollar index DXY -0.15% , which measures the greenback against a basket of other currencies, slipped to 79.137 from 79.371 in North America trade late Tuesday.
Dollar-denominated commodities tend to rise on a softer dollar, as they get cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, prices were mixed.
Natural gas for November delivery NGX12 +0.12% rose 0.2% to $3.44 per million British thermal units, while heating oil for the same month HOX2 -0.41% lost 0.4% to $3.18 a gallon.
November gasoline RBX2 -0.01% slipped 0.1% to $2.84 a gallon.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
