Monday July 20, 12:15 PM
Oil prices rally on US housing data
LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, lifted by rising global equities and positive data that suggested the worst may be over for the crisis-hit US housing market, analysts said.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, gained 1.06 dollars to 64.62 dollars a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for September delivery climbed 97 cents to 66.35 dollars.
Data released Friday by the US Commerce Department showed construction starts on privately owned homes rose 3.6 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted rate of 582,000, the fastest pace since November.
The number of housing starts was much higher than the 530,000 level expected by most analysts and followed a revised 562,000 starts in May, up 30,000 from the initial estimate.
"Oil prices drew support from the US housing starts data," the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a report.
David Bensimon of financial advisory firm Polar Pacific said crude markets were currently "in the midst of a consolidation" and could rise in the near term.
"The market has begun a new multi-year advance.... There is some potential, if oil holds at (current) levels, for it to move to 80 dollars in the next four to six weeks," he said.
Oil prices have slumped amid the economic downturn after striking all-time highs above 147 dollars a barrel a year ago, but have slowly clawed back ground on hopes that the global economy is on the mend.
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