Crude kisses $100 mark during intra day trading

Prices rise in tandem with US stocks and upbeat holiday sales figure

Higher US stocks, weak dollar and upbeat holiday sales numbers pushed crude prices higher on Monday, 28 November at Nymex. Prices crossed $100 during intra day trading but dropped from session highs while going into close.

Light and sweet crude for January delivery rose $1.44 (1.5%) to $98.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. Prices touched a high of $100.74 during intra day trading. Last week, crude lost 0.7%. For the month of October, oil futures gained 18%. During the third quarter ending in September, crude incurred losses of 17%. It was the worst quarterly performance for crude in almost two years.



US stocks on Monday were in a more upbeat mood following an impressive start to the U.S. holiday shopping season and on some renewed hope the European Union's sovereign debt crisis has some fixes in the works.

Latest reports indicate that European officials have reached an agreement on how to leverage the euro zone's 440 billion euro ($586 billion) European Financial Stability Facility, ahead of a Tuesday meeting of European finance ministers. The fund might insure the bonds of debt-torn nations with guarantees of as much as 30% of each issue.

Holiday sales data indicate that U.S. retail sales totaled $52.4 billion during the holiday weekend, with the average shopper spending $398.62, up from $365.34 for the year-earlier period.

Wall Street maintained its rise throughout the day on Monday after the government reported sales of new single-family homes rose 1.3% in October to a yearly rate of 307,000. September sales were revised down to 303,000 from a first read of 313,000.

Among other energy products on Monday, December gasoline rose 7 cents, or 2.8%, to $2.52 per gallon. Heating oil for the same month's delivery advanced 4 cents, or 1.5%, to $2.97 a gallon.

December natural gas slipped 18 cents, or 5%, to $3.36 per million British thermal units. Natural gas notched a 6.6% weekly gain last week.

At the MCX, crude oil for December delivery closed higher by Rs 22 (0.43%) at Rs 5,090/barrel. Natural gas for December delivery closed at Rs 186.5, lower by Rs 4.6 (2.5%).