By MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch)-- Oil prices rose on Thursday with the commodity bolstered by the weakened U.S. dollar and signals of improved demand.
Commodities stayed higher after separate U.S. reports showed an unexpected rise in jobless claims in the latest week and producer prices rising a bigger-than-expected 0.4% in September.
Benchmark crude for November delivery gained 54 cents to $83.55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It climbed as high as $84.12 earlier on.
The dollar on Thursday hit new lows against several currencies, including a 15-year-low versus the Japanese yen, after Singapore’s central bank surprised markets by expanding the trading band for the Singapore dollar, effectively tightening monetary policy. The dollar index (DXY 76.51, -0.56, -0.73%) fell to 76.428 from 77.061 late Wednesday.
In corporate industry developments, Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY 84.29, +1.06, +1.27%) Chief Executive Officer Ray Irani plans to give up his CEO title next year and then retire at the end of 2014, the oil and gas producer said Thursday.
Later in the session, the Energy Department releases its weekly inventory report.
