WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - U.S. crude oil ended settled higher for a fourth straight session Monday, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meet outcome, tracking rising global equity markets after the dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies.
The Federal Reserve policy meet outcome later this week is expected to end speculations the central bank would drastically scale down its quantitative easing program.
Investors also await cues from this week's economic data from the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, and comments by the Federal Reserve chairman.
Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.64 or 0.7 percent to close at $96.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.
Crude prices for July delivery scaled a high of $97.35 a barrel intraday and a low of $95.47.
Last week, oil settled higher after some upbeat macroeconomic data out of the U.S. strengthened the dollar against a basket of currencies.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 83.77 on Monday, down from 84.21 late Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 84.26 intraday and a low of 83.85.
The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.2891 on Monday, as compared to $1.2843 late Friday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.2894 intraday and a low of $1.2820.
In economic news, house prices in the U.K. house indicated a fifth consecutive monthly increase amid limited supply which took average asking prices to a record, a survey by Rightmove showed Monday. Prices hit a record GBP 249,841 in May, as new sellers raised their prices by 2.1 percent from the prior month. Prices were up by the same rate in April. This has left prices 9.1 percent higher year-to-date, the strongest price start to a year since 2004.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government on Monday upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in two months, as a weak yen helped revive the country's exports and factory output.
From the eurozone, Italy's industrial new orders grew 1.6 percent in March from the prior month, due mostly to a 3.6 percent rise in non-domestic demand, data from the statistical office Istat revealed. Orders from domestic market increased only 0.2 percent.
Following several economic data released over the past week, the U.S. economic calendar for this week appears relatively light, with traders likely to keep an eye on reports on new and existing home sales, durable goods orders and weekly jobless claims for further signs of a meaningful recovery.
Traders will also closely examine Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress on Wednesday, seeking hints on tightening the central bank's monetary policy.
Also on focus will the crude oil inventories data from the American Petroleum Institute, due Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration weekly oil report due Wednesday.
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