Investing.com – Crude oil futures rallied to a six-day high on Monday, trading above USD99-a-barrel as renewed efforts by European leaders to tackle the region’s ongoing debt crisis boosted appetite for riskier assets.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD99.72 a barrel during European morning trade, soaring 3.05%.
It earlier rose by as much as 3.25% to trade at USD99.91 a barrel, the highest since November 18.
German media outlets reported over the weekend that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were studying legal changes to the European Union treaty, which would include deeper financial integration among EU members.
The pact, if agreed, would also give the European Central Bank more scope to undertake large scale bond purchases.
Separately, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported Sunday that the International Monetary Fund was preparing an aid package for Italy of up to EUR600 billion. However the report was subsequently denied by an IMF spokesman.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.8% to trade at 79.19. Oil prices typically strengthen when the U.S. currency weakens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Crude prices found additional support after the U.S. National Retail Federation said that Thanksgiving weekend sales in the U.S. rose 16% from a year earlier to a record USD52.4 billion.
The robust start to the U.S. holiday shopping season helped ease concerns over the economic outlook of the world’s largest oil consumer.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery jumped 2.15% to trade at USD108.67 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts narrowing to USD8.95 a barrel.
Brent prices remained supported after a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that France was seeking to impose "unprecedented" sanctions on Iran, including a possible ban on oil imports from the country.
The spokesman added that the foreign ministry was in talks with fellow European Union members ahead of a December 1 summit of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Iran is the world’s fourth largest oil producer and the second biggest exporter among OPEC members.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD99.72 a barrel during European morning trade, soaring 3.05%.
It earlier rose by as much as 3.25% to trade at USD99.91 a barrel, the highest since November 18.
German media outlets reported over the weekend that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were studying legal changes to the European Union treaty, which would include deeper financial integration among EU members.
The pact, if agreed, would also give the European Central Bank more scope to undertake large scale bond purchases.
Separately, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported Sunday that the International Monetary Fund was preparing an aid package for Italy of up to EUR600 billion. However the report was subsequently denied by an IMF spokesman.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.8% to trade at 79.19. Oil prices typically strengthen when the U.S. currency weakens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Crude prices found additional support after the U.S. National Retail Federation said that Thanksgiving weekend sales in the U.S. rose 16% from a year earlier to a record USD52.4 billion.
The robust start to the U.S. holiday shopping season helped ease concerns over the economic outlook of the world’s largest oil consumer.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery jumped 2.15% to trade at USD108.67 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts narrowing to USD8.95 a barrel.
Brent prices remained supported after a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that France was seeking to impose "unprecedented" sanctions on Iran, including a possible ban on oil imports from the country.
The spokesman added that the foreign ministry was in talks with fellow European Union members ahead of a December 1 summit of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Iran is the world’s fourth largest oil producer and the second biggest exporter among OPEC members.