By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose modestly Monday as stocks opened higher and after prices hit a six-week low in the previous session. Crude oil for October delivery added 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $73.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A losing dollar was also doing its part to support oil prices, which have closed lower for eight of the past nine sessions. The dollar index (DXY 82.90, -0.16, -0.19%) , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded 0.1% lower at 82.99. Crude-oil futures declined to their lowest since mid July on Friday, taking cues from a global equities sell-off that extended from Asia to the U.S. as worries deepened about the global recovery, and the dollar rose. Oil lost 2.6% last week, which comes on the heels of a loss of nearly 7% in the previous week. Other energy products remained lower. Reformulated gasoline for September delivery, the front-month contract expiring this week, was losing less than a penny, or 0.2%, to $1.92 a gallon, looking set to settle at a multiweek low. Natural gas for September delivery, also the front-month expiring contract, declined 5 cents, or 1.3%, to $4.06 per million British thermal units, the lowest price since May 24.

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