By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude futures advanced Tuesday, leaving behind a tentative floor-trade opening as U.S. stocks gained and sentiment about Greece improved.
Crude for October delivery CL1V +0.46% added 68 cents, or 0.6%, to $86.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil retreated 2.6% on Monday on worries that Greece would soon run out of cash and default, putting a stop on the fragile global economic recovery.
Investors were more willing to take on investments considered riskier on Tuesday, though, according to Matt Smith, an analyst with Summit Energy in Kentucky.
Investors have pinned “huge amounts of hope” that the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce some measures to help the economy at the end of their two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, he said.
“The market is expecting something, and they will deliver something,” only probably not as much to match the expectations, Smith added.
The Fed is likely to announce it will be buying longer-date debt to help with the U.S. debt curve, he commented.
Taking some of the focus off Greece, the country made coupon payments on Tuesday, according to media reports; it also sold short-term bonds. Read more on Greece's bill payments.
On Monday, Greek officials soothed markets by saying the country was close to agreement over a fresh injection of aid, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Other energy products tracked crude higher on Tuesday, with October gasoline RB1V -0.10% adding 1 cent to $2.70 a gallon.
Keeping a lid on more significant gains for energy commodities, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its prospects of the global economy. Read more about the IMF's forecast.
The multilateral cut U.S. growth forecast to 1.5% this year and 1.8% in 2012. The IMF’s 2011 forecast is a full percentage point lower than its expectations three months ago and 0.9% below its prior forecast for 2012.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
