Oil Adds To Gains As Dollar Drops

Crude-oil futures extended their rise during electronic trading Monday, passing a key technical level as the dollar pulled lower.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for January delivery  traded at $87.59 a barrel on Globex during Asia trading hours, marking a rise of 67 cents, or 0.8%.

The advance came after the January contract added $1.05, or 1.2%, to settle at $86.92 a barrel in Friday’s regular session on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The now-expired December contract ended Friday with a 1.4% gain.

GFT technical analyst Fawad Razaqzada said Friday that as the benchmark Nymex contract manages to hold above $85 for several sessions, traders will be watching price action with great attention.

“It is now testing a trend-line resistance at $87. … Should it break above here, $89.30 would become the next target,” Razaqzada said ahead of the contract’s advance.

Monday’s gains for oil came as the U.S. dollar moved off its recent highs, providing support for crude and other dollar-denominated commodities, which tend to move inversely to the greenback.

The ICE dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, fell to 81.077 from 81.286 — its highest level since early September — in late North American trade Friday.

Among other energy products Monday, heating oil for December delivery  rose 2 cents to $3.01 a gallon, and gasoline for delivery in the same month  also added 2 cents to $2.73 a gallon.

Natural-gas futures for December delivery  jumped 4 cents, or about 1.1%, to $3.83 per million British thermal units.

Marketwatch