Oil Jumps On Weaker Dollar; Traders Wary Of Stock Build

Benchmark Brent crude settled up $1.44, or 3 percent, at $49.60 a barrel after rallying to just a penny short of $50. The last time Brent was at $50 was on Jan. 22.

U.S. crude futures finished up $1.08, or 2.4 percent, at $46.23 a barrel, after a session peak at $46.55.

The dollar retreated from an 11-year high in the previous session, falling about 1 percent to the euro after weaker-than-expected orders for U.S. durable goods in December.

Trading volumes in U.S. oil futures were about half their usual levels, with many traders in New York working away from their desks after a blizzard swept across the northeastern United States. Thomson Reuters data showed less than 300,000 lots traded for the front-month contract in U.S. crude.

Oil prices have slumped nearly 60 percent since peaking in June, driven lower by ample supplies from the U.S. shale oil boom and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision not to cut output.

OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said on Monday prices may have bottomed after the seven-month selloff, and warned of a possible spike to $200 a barrel.

Investment banks remain bearish on oil. Swiss bank UBS lowered its 2015 forecasts for Brent to $52.50 a barrel and WTI to $49 a barrel on Tuesday.


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