Oil rises to near $99 in Asia

Oil prices rose to near $99 a barrel Monday in Asia, bouncing back from last week's plunge, as a weaker US dollar made commodities less expensive for investors with other currencies. Benchmark crude for June delivery was up $1.65 to $98.83 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.62 to settle at $97.18 on Friday. In other Nymex trading in June contracts, heating oil rose 4.0 cents to $2.89 a gallon and gasoline added 4.8 cents to $3.14 a gallon. Natural gas futures were up 4.8 cents at $4.28 per 1,000 cubic feet. Analysts said the oil is likely to extend gains during the day as the present situation doesn’t reflect the global economic scenario. Futures climbed as much as 1.9% Monday after dropped to $97.18, the lowest settlement since March 15. Meanwhile the dollar dropped against the euro and yen .The euro rose to $1.4393 on Monday from $1.4312 on Friday while the dollar dropped to 80.59 yen from 80.63. Oil prices fell 15% last week as the dollar strengthened and traders worried that slowing U.S. economic growth didn't justify a 35% increase from February to near $115 on May 2. On Friday, Light sweet crude for June delivery closed at $97.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while London’s Brent crude dropped $1.67 at $109.13 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.