Oil touches 6-month high above $60
Higher stocks, talk of reduced inventory help bolster June contract on last day of trading.
 |
| Click on the chart to see other commodity prices. |
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil rose Tuesday, although it eased from an earlier six-month high over $60 a barrel, as investors digested a tepid advance on Wall Street and waited for a supply report expected to show a dip in inventories.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 62 cents, or almost 1.1%, to settle at $59.65 a barrel Tuesday. It had reached as high as $60.48 a barrel earlier in the session.
Prices were jumpy on the last day of trading for the June contract. The July contract, which will be active beginning Wednesday, was up 47 cents at $60.06.
Oil touched $60 a barrel one week ago. But it has not traded at $60.48 a barrel since early November, more than six months ago, as the recession has curtailed demand.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were slightly higher Tuesday, as renewed confidence in the financial sector overcame a weaker-than-expected housing report. Oil prices paralleled Wall Street's activity.
Stocks serve as a barometer for the health of the economy and a stronger economy demands more energy, pulling oil prices higher.
Also helping to push prices higher was an indication that oil and gasoline inventories, which have grown as the recession cut into energy use, were expected to have declined last week. The government reports on supply Wednesday.
Crude oil stocks were forecast to have declined by 1.5 million barrels and gasoline stocks were expected to have fallen by 1.7 million barrels, according to a consensus estimate of analysts from Platts, an energy information provider.
Gasoline: The price at the pump is starting to catch up with the rebound in crude.
A gallon of regular unleaded gas cost $2.314 Tuesday, up from the previous day's $2.311, according to survey results released Tuesday by motorist group AAA.
It was the 21st straight increase, a run that has raised the average price 26.6 cents, or 12.9%. The price remains down $1.80, or 44%, from the record high $4.114 set last July. 
