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Oil inches up to one-year high at $76

15 October 2009 08:05 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil reached a one-year high in New York on optimism fuel demand will increase amid improved prospects for an economic recovery in the U.S., the worldâ€™s biggest energy consumer.
Oil rose for a sixth day as the dollar declined and equities advanced around the world. Prices also climbed after a report from the American Petroleum Institute showed a decline in U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles last week. The Energy Department is expected to report a drop in distillate inventories today.
Crude oil for November delivery climbed as much as 78 cents, or 1 percent, to $75.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Thatâ€™s the highest intraday price since Oct. 20, 2008. The contract was at $75.93 a barrel at 11:35 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, it added 1.4 percent to $75.18 a barrel, the highest settlement since Oct. 14, 2008.

Prices have gained 6 percent this week as equity markets rallied. The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 10,000 yesterday for the first time in a year on better-than-estimated earnings at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Intel Corp. The gauge jumped 144.8 points, or 1.5 percent, to 10,015.86, the highest level since Oct. 3 last year.

Asian shares were higher for a third day, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index up 1.5 percent to 121.77 at 12:02 p.m. in Tokyo.

The dollarâ€™s decline also boosted the appeal of commodities as alternative investment. The U.S. currency fell to as low as $1.4958 per euro, the weakest since August 2008, from $1.4925 yesterday in New York. Gold was little changed after touching a record yesterday.

Brent crude oil for November settlement rose as much as 76 cents, or 1 percent, to $73.86 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract, which expires today, was at $73.64 a barrel at 11:24 a.m. in Singapore. December futures were at $74.65 a barrel. Source: Bloomberg