FOX: OIL FUTURES: Crude Gains With Equities, Falling Dollar
NEW YORK – Crude-oil futures rose Friday along with stock markets and the falling dollar, as improving data in Europe reduced worries about a slump in oil demand.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery recently traded $1.77, or 1.7%, higher at $104.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The May contract expires at settlement on Friday, and futures for June delivery recently traded $1.68 higher at $104.40 a barrel.
Brent crude for June delivery on the ICE futures exchange traded 99 cents higher at $119.99 a barrel.
Oil gained as improving data out of Germany and the U.K. early Friday lifted European markets and provided a boost to U.S. stock market futures.
European markets were broadly higher. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were recently up 72 points to 12,974.
The Ifo Institute's index of business confidence in Germany rose to 109.9 in April from 109.8 in March. U.K. retail sales for March rose 1.8% from February, well above expectations of a 0.8% increase.
The improving data also lifted the euro against the dollar. A falling dollar typically helps raise crude prices, as it makes oil cheaper for buyers in other currencies.
With tensions between Iran and the West cooling after recent talks, oil traders have turned their gaze back to the broader economy. A further slowdown in Europe would likely reduce demand in the region for oil and fuel products.
"We really saw a turnaround in sentiment with the business confidence numbers in Germany," said Matt Smith, an analyst at Summit Energy. "It's just a combination of a few bits of positive data."
Oil prices have fallen steadily from a peak near $110 a barrel in late February. But traders are unwilling to bet on prices falling through the key $100 a barrel level, particularly as retail gasoline prices have halted their rise under $4 a gallon.
As prices at the pump approached that key level in recent weeks, economists had feared rising fuel costs could scuttle the U.S. economic recovery.
Front-month May reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded 0.81 cent lower at $3.1460 a gallon. May heating oil recently traded 1.58 cents higher at $3.1409 a gallon.
