Singapore, January 05: Oil rose to near USD 82 a barrel today in Asia after a jump in US stock markets boosted investor confidence and helped extend a four-week rally in crude prices.
Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 31 cents to USD 81.81 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract climbed USD 2.15 to settle at USD 81.51 yesterday.
Oil traders often look to stock markets as a measure of overall investor sentiment, and equities rose in the first trading day of 2010 as investors eyed signs of improvement in US and Chinese manufacturing.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.5 per cent yesterday while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 1.6 per cent. All major Asian stock indexes were up in early trading today.
–PTI