The price of crude oil futures rode a surge of positive sentiment in the equities markets higher on Thursday, with lower jobless claims and promising signals in the European economy. The dollar also fell as traders sought out riskier, higher-earning assets, pushing up dollar-priced oil.
On the ICE, the price of West Texas Intermediate light, sweet crude oil futures surged almost 2.2 percent to $78.72 per barrel. That contract hasn’t breached the $80 per barrel line since May, when it plunged from over $90 per barrel to under $72.
Sustained worries about the stability of the economic recovery have weighed on crude oil. Like most other assets, the price of oil has been more subject to day-to-day and week-to-week fluctuations driven by seasonal and ephemeral data rather than long-term considerations.
Oil fell to its lowest point in a week yesterday after government data showed that total inventories of petroleum had hit unexpectedly high levels.
However, it still seems unlikely that a sustained movement in either direction will be impossible to maintain unless the economic bears or the economic bulls get a crystal-clear signal on whether major economies will continue their snail-like climb out of recession or plunge back into a double-dip.
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