MW: Oil rises for fourth session on stock gains, weak dollar
Crude-oil futures rose Friday for a fourth session as Ford's smaller-than-expected quarterly loss helped U.S. stocks move higher and boosted sentiment in energy trading, outweighing a buildup in crude inventories.
Crude for June delivery, which became the front-month contract Wednesday, gained $1.93, or 3.9%, to $51.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil futures, as measured by front-month contracts, gained 2.4% this week.
"A weaker U.S. dollar and rising stock markets provided support" for oil prices, said analysts at Commerzbank. "Crude prices are not currently being supported by fundamentals with [high] crude inventories in the U.S."
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rallied after Ford Motor Co.and Microsoft Corp. reported better-than-anticipated results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1% to above 8,000.
In economic news, demand for U.S.-made durable goods fell 0.8%, the seventh decline in the past eight months, the Commerce Department estimated Friday.
Still, inventories fell 1.1%, an encouraging sign that manufacturers are getting their supplies of unsold goods more in line with demand. See Economic Report.
In the currency markets, the dollar lost ground versus major rivals Friday.
The dollar index , a measure of the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, traded at 84.621, down from 85.353 in North American trade late Thursday. See Currencies.
Dollar weakness typically boosts dollar-denominated commodities because it makes them cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Crude's weekly gain came even after the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories showed another buildup last week, rising to their highest level in nearly two decades as demand fell.
Crude inventories increased 3.7 million barrels to 370.6 million barrels, the highest level since September 1990, the EIA reported.
Also on energy trading Friday, May reformulated gasoline rose 4.6 cents, or 3.2%, to $1.4475 a gallon. May heating oil gained 5.04 cents, or 3.8%, to $1.3683 a gallon.
May natural-gas futures fell to $3.286 per million British thermal unit.
