NEW YORK: Crude oil futures hit a new high for the year yesterday and US retail gasoline rose above $2 a gallon for the first time since November as investors wagered that there would be a new run on crude stocks.
Benchmark crude for May delivery rose $1.58 to settle at $54.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent prices rose $1.71 to settle at $53.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Gas prices rose 2.3 cents a gallon overnight to a new US average of $2.009 per gallon (53 cents a liter), according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Pump prices are 10.9 cents higher than a month ago, but $1.252 a gallon (33 cents a liter) lower than the same period last year. Gas prices last hit $2 on Nov. 20.
Meanwhile, Asian and US stocks gained yesterday. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.91 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index soared 2.68 percent in afternoon trading.
London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares inched up 0.64 percent and the DAX in Frankfurt rose 0.85 percent but the CAC-40 in Paris lost 0.05 percent.
Japanese share prices earlier rose to a two-and-a-half month high, with the Nikkei-225 index hitting 8,636.33 points — a rise of 1.84 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, Amsterdam’s stock market dropped 0.33 percent.
Swiss shares also slipped 0.07 percent, but Italy was up 1.17 percent and Belgium gained 1.49 percent by the end of the trading day.
In Asia, Hong Kong shot up 3.57 percent, Shanghai surged 3,06 percent, Sydney won 1.03 percent and Mumbai jumped 3.47 percent.
The Nikkei has rallied about 22 percent from a 26-year closing low of 7,054.98 points on March 10, but it is still down 2.5 percent.
The US dollar rose against major currencies yesterday.