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Oil shoots above $71 a barrel on weak dollar
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-09 13:54 Crude prices settled above $71 a barrel Tuesday as a falling dollar pushed investors to seek out commodities such as oil and gold.
The dollar fell to a low for the year Tuesday against the euro and several other currencies as gold prices surpassed $1,000 an ounce for the first time since February. Investors often turn to commodities as a hedge against inflation and dollar weakness, and gold seems to be pulling oil along for the ride, said PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn. "The move in metals has oil reluctantly rallying higher," Flynn said in his morning report. "Normally crude oil would be worrying about the upcoming OPEC meeting as opposed to worrying about the gold market." Leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have signaled they plan to keep output levels unchanged at the group's meeting Wednesday in Vienna. That could send oil prices lower as traders expect OPEC members to increasingly exceed the group's official production quotas.
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell a half penny to $2.578, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's 6.5 cents more than a month ago, but $1.08 less than at this time last year. In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery rose 5.26 cents to $1.8289 a gallon, and heating oil gained 6.2 cents to $1.7825 a gallon. Natural gas rose 7.9 cents to $2.807 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude was up $2.89 to $69.42 on the ICE Futures exchange. |