http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Oil-above-60-on-signs-recession-easing/articleshow/4551350.cms
Oil rose above $60 a barrel on Tuesday in Asia after investors took heart from signs the US recession is easing. Benchmark crude for June delivery was up $1.09 to $60.12 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, the contract jumped $2.69 to settle at $59.03. Investors on Monday cheered a better-than-expected profit report from home improvement chain Lowe's Cos., an uptick in homebuilder sentiment and positive comments from analysts about US banks, all of which suggested the US economy is gradually emerging from a severe recession. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 2.9 percent. While most analysts expect oil prices to increase over the next year as global economic growth recovers, some suspect the recent surge from below $35 a barrel in March may have gone too far, too fast. ``The move from $40 to $60 has happened faster than we thought it would,'' said Bob Doll, vice chairman of BlackRock, which manages $1.3 trillion of assets. ``But a year from now oil prices should be modestly higher than where we are today.'' The jump in prices for gasoline and other oil products shouldn't choke off a fledgling recovery in consumer demand since the fall from $147 a barrel in July helped free up extra spending cash, Doll said. ``We've got our eye on it, but we're not overly concerned,'' he said. ``Oil versus a year ago is still down a whole bunch.'' In other Nymex trading, gasoline for June delivery rose 2.76 cents to $1.76 a gallon and heating oil gained 1.54 cents to $1.49 a gallon. Natural gas for June delivery jumped 4.7 cents to $4.19 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent prices rose 88 cents to $59.34 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
