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Crude oil starts to rise on markets

08 December 2009 07:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku- APA-Economics. Crude oil rose for the first time in five days as the dollar weakened and some investors took the view a decline below $75 made it an attractive investment, Bloomberg reported.
Oil snapped four days of losses as the dollar fell against the euro, increasing the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. The contract has traded between $75 and $81 for almost eight weeks and yesterday settled below $75 for the first time since Oct. 13.
Crude oil for January delivery gained as much as 46 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $74.39 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $74.12 a barrel at 11:58 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract fell $1.54, or 2 percent, to $73.93. Prices have climbed 67 percent this year.

The dollar traded at $1.4841 per euro at 12:05 p.m. in Singapore, from $1.4827 yesterday.

Oil dropped yesterday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. economy will face a weak labor market and tight credit, signaling fuel demand will be slow to recover.

Brent crude oil for January settlement rose as much as 57 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $77 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $76.67 a barrel at 11:54 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract dropped $1.09, or 1.4 percent, to $76.43.
Brent crude is trading at a premium of $2.55 a barrel to New York futures versus a discount of $1.66 a month ago.