Oil ends slightly higher on strong equities

• Source: xinhua
• [08:07 October 10 2009]
• Comments

Crude prices ended slightly higher on Friday as US major averages paced to their best weekly gains since early July.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery added only 8 cents to settle at 71.77 US dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 3 percent on Thursday as the US currency hit a 14-month low against the euro.

Friday's advance was mainly bolstered by the rally in the Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average above its highest close in a year when the oil market closed.

However, the dollar rebounded on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Fed would tighten the monetary policy when the economic outlook improved sufficiently, limiting the rising momentum of crude oil.

In London, Brent Crude for November delivery rose 23 cents to settle at 70 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.