Oil rises above $82 as stock markets rebound

[April 20, 2010]  SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices rose above $82 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, clawing back a little ground after the fraud case against Goldman Sachs and flight disruptions in Europe from volcanic ash triggered a two-day plunge.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 74 cents to $82.19 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil tumbled $1.79 to settle at $81.45 on Monday, after it fell $2.27 on Friday.

A rebound in stock markets helped boost crude prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7 percent Monday as Citigroup Inc. reported better than expected earnings and revenue, and most Asian indexes gained Tuesday.

Stocks dropped Friday after the Securities and Exchange Commission said Goldman defrauded investors by failing to disclose key information about mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was collapsing in 2007.

Oil traders often look to equities as a barometer of overall investor sentiment.

"The stock market proved that lawsuits and courts are no match for profits," Cameron Hanover said in a report. "That took away one source of selling in oil."

Investors are also eyeing a huge cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano that has shut down air traffic in most of Europe for five days. Some cities, such as Barcelona and Rome, were beginning to receive flights Tuesday, but most European airports remained shut.

In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil rose 1.70 cents to $2.17 a gallon, and gasoline gained 0.79 cent to $2.26 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 1 cent to $3.96 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude's June contract was up 56 cents at $84.79 on the ICE futures exchange.

[Associated Press; By ALEX KENNEDY]

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