• Home
• /
• Energy

Oil up 4th day as stimulus hopes support

Dollar-denominated crude futures saw choppy trading as the euro and dollar also seesawed, buffeted by comments from European leaders.

The euro hit a three-week high, lifted early after French leader Francois Hollande and his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, said they are determined to do all they can to safeguard the single currency.

The euro hit the session high on a report that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi would favor giving the bailout fund a banking license and would meet with German’s Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.

“Financial markets see a benign mix of gently rising risk appetite as worries over an imminent euro zone disaster ease and prospects for another U.S. stimulus increase,” said Carsten Fritsch, oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

Brent September crude rose $1.21 to settle at $106.47 a barrel, posting a 36-cent loss for the week after four straight weekly gains. The premium to October Brent stayed above $1 a barrel.

US September crude gained 74 cents to settle at $90.13 a barrel, ending with a 1.43 percent weekly loss after gaining the previous two weeks.

But both contracts stayed on track to register healthy monthly gains next week, after both Brent and US crude suffered double-digit tumbles in the second quarter.

Total Brent crude trading volume lagged the 30-day average by 33 percent and US turnover trailed its 30-day average by 28 percent, with less than an hour of post-settlement trading left.

US RBOB gasoline futures jumped 7.40 cents and heating oil rose 2.10 cents, ahead of front-month August contract expirations on Tuesday.

“RBOB futures ... were supported by a Midwest refinery snag and by the usual speculative short covering that often precedes monthly contract expiration,” Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates said in a note.

Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to July 24, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.

They boosted their net long RBOB gasoline positions, while heating oil moved from net short to net long.