Singapore, November 06: Oil prices rose above USD 80 a barrel today in Asia as crude investors eyed a surge in global stock markets.
Benchmark crude for December delivery was up 47 cents to USD 80.09 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 78 cents to settle at USD 79.62 yesterday.
Oil traders often look to stock markets for a sense of overall investor sentiment, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.1 per cent yesterday on better-than -expected jobless claims numbers and positive forecasts by Cisco Systems Inc. All major Asia indexes were also up in early today trading.
Crude investors are also watching signs in recent weeks of a drop in US oil supplies, which increased sharply this year as demand shrank.
–PTI