http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091130-707850.html
OIL FUTURES: Crude Up On Weaker Dollar, Higher Stock Markets
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude futures are higher Monday on a weaker dollar and rising equities, overturning earlier losses as concerns ease over the Dubai World debt crisis.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery recently traded 32 cents, or 0.4%, higher at $76.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 36 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $77.54 a barrel.
The dollar weakened against the euro, most recently trading above the pivotal $1.50 a barrel level at $1.5028. Oil tends to rise on a weaker dollar as this makes the price of the dollar-denominated commodity cheaper to other currency holders.
"We seem to be focusing on the dollar again," said Phill Flynn, analyst with PFG Best in Chicago, noting the oil market's tendency to react to dollar movements in the absence of any fundamental news.
Equity markets in the U.S. were also marginally higher on their open, offering some support to oil prices, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently trading up 32 points at 10342.
Oil market participants have been using positive economic data and rising stock markets as a representative for oil demand growth, anticipating that a global economic upturn will bolster oil consumption.
Lingering concerns about the effect the Dubai debt crisis had led oil prices to fall earlier in the session.
