Oil Futures Tighten Grip On $90-A-Barrel Level

Oil futures climbed further above the $90-a-barrel mark in Asia on Monday amid growing optimism for stronger action from European policy makers.

Crude for September delivery CLU2 rose 55 cents, or 0.6%, to $90.67 in electronic trading on Monday.

Oil futures rose 74 cents to $90.13 a barrel in regular trading in New York on Friday, after European leaders added their voices to the European Central Bank leader’s pledge to support the common currency bloc.

Over the weekend, Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said the euro-zone members, their rescue fund and the European Central Bank will soon act to save the region’s currency, according to a report.

While the dollar index DXY moved slightly above late Friday’s 82.636 reading to 82.757 on Monday, it remained near a three-week low. Read more on currencies.

A weaker greenback is a positive for oil, as it makes the dollar-denominated commodity cheaper for holders of other currencies.

In the wider energy complex, August gasoline RBQ2 rose 2 cents to $82 a gallon.

August heating-oil HOQ2HOQ2 traded flat at HOQ2$2.89 a gallon and natural-gas NGU12 for August delivery advanced 4 cents to $3.05 per million British thermal units.

MarketWatch