Futures Movers: Oil futures top $100 for first time since May

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) ? Oil futures on Friday rose to $100 a barrel for the first time since May as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa sparked worry of supply disruptions and after the Federal Reserve vowed another round of stimulus.

?You cannot fight the Fed. If you?re going to put more money into the system, you change the value of the commodity. If it?s priced in dollars, it?s going to take more of them to buy it. And if it?s going to stimulate the economy, it?s going to increase demand going forward,? said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Middle East demonstrations still spreading

Violent Middle East demonstrations against the U.S. continue to spread.

Crude for October delivery /quotes/zigman/2203156 CLV2 +0.31% /quotes/zigman/2203156 CLV2 +0.31% rose to an intraday high of $100.42 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was recently up 75 cents, or 0.8%, at $99.07 a barrel.

?Already tensions are running high in the Middle East because of the Arab spring and anti-American sentiment,? said Flynn, who added that depending on what happens during the weekend, oil prices could target its next resistance at $102.97 a barrel in coming sessions, and likely rise to March highs in the $110 to $111 range in coming weeks.

Tension in the Middle East rose this week amid demonstrations in Libya, Egypt and Yemen against a video viewed as insulting to Islam. Read more on Yemen attack.

?Barring a major meltdown in Europe, it?s hard to find too many reasons to be bearish,? said Flynn. ?There are rumors running hot and heavy that there is going to be a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? that could keep a lid on prices, added Flynn, who discounts the speculation.

Oil futures on Thursday closed at a four-month high after the Federal Reserve said that it would buy $40 billion a month of mortgage-backed securities for an unlimited period. Read more on the Fed.

Higher gasoline prices helped push up U.S. retail sales in August, with the Commerce Department on Friday reporting retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9%. Gas station sales climbed 5.5%, and demand for automobiles increased 1.7%.

Separately, the Labor Department reported higher gas costs drove up consumer prices last month, with the 0.6% rise largely attributable to the increased cost of filling the tank. Food prices rose 0.2%. Excluding energy, inflation was benign.

/quotes/zigman/2203156

US : U.S.: Nymex

Volume: 186,699

Sept. 14, 2012 1:05p

/quotes/zigman/2203156

US : U.S.: Nymex

Volume: 186,699

Sept. 14, 2012 1:05p

Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.

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Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B8356BF00-FE11-11E1-BAF9-002128049AD6%7D&siteid=rss

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