Oil prices rose above $70 a barrel Tuesday, propelled by a slipping dollar, a stronger equities market and OPEC production cuts, as Americans went to the polls. US crude for December delivery spiked as high as $71.77 a barrel in electronic trading, as stocks turned higher and crude investors became less worried about market risk. Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $6.62 to settle at $70.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $71.77. In London, December Brent crude rose $5.96 to settle at $66.44 on the ICE Futures exchange. Investors see commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a weak dollar and pour into the crude futures market when the greenback falls. A weak dollar also makes oil less expensive to buyers dealing in other currencies. Oil prices have fallen roughly $80 from their July peak around $147. In October alone, crude prices tumbled 32 percent, the largest decline in Nymex history. World markets surged higher Tuesday as the uncertainty about who will be the next US president neared an end. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 303.38 points, or 3.26 percent, at 9,623.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 38.95 points, or 4.03 percent, at 1,005.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 53.55 points, or 3.10 percent, at 1,779.88. Britain's leading share index rose for the sixth straight session, up 4.4 percent as commodity stocks tracked higher crude and metal prices. The FTSE 100 closed at 4,639.5 points, up 196.22 or 4.42 percent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 4.3 percent higher at 974.15 points, though the benchmark index is still down about 35 percent this year. In Frankfurt, the DAX index ended at 5,278.04 points, up 251.2 or 5.00 percent. In Paris, the CAC-40 index closed at 3,691.09 points, up 163.12 or 4.62 percent. In Zurich, the Swiss market index closed at 6,399.98 points,up 166.1 or 2.66 percent. In Milan, the All Share Mibtel index closed at 17,750 points, up 995 or 5.94 percent. In Tokyo, Japan's Nikkei rose 6.3 percent to a two-week high. The Nikkei ended up 537.62 points at 9,114.60. In Hong Kong, stocks edged up just 0.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index closed up 39.97 points at 14,384.34. In Sydney, Australian shares cut early losses to end down 0.2 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 6.4 points to 4,215.1. In Johannesburg, the All-share index closed at 21,649.58 points, up 514.31 or 2.43 percent. The All Gold index closed at 1,690.21 points, up 53.76 or 3.29 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 17,795.55 points, up 510.89 or 2.96 percent. However, the dollar mostly fell against other major currencies. The 15-nation euro rose to 1.2954 in late New York trading Tuesday from 1.2627 late Monday, while the British pound rose to $1.5933 from $1.5821. The 15-nation euro rose to 1.2954 in late New York trading Tuesday from 1.2627 late Monday, while the British pound rose to $1.5933 from $1.5821. The dollar rose, however, to 99.69 Japanese yen from 98.98 yen late Monday. The dollar has been second only to the yen in gains this fall. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar rose to 69.64 US cents from 68.07 US cents late Monday. In other New York trading, the dollar slid to 1.1522 Canadian dollars from 1.1855 late Monday, and dropped to 1.1645 Swiss francs from 1.1741 francs. Gold rose on a weaker dollar, with investors keeping a close eye on the currency. Spot gold prices rose $37.40 to $759.30 an ounce.
