Oil prices rose above $71 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as a jump in global stock markets boosted investor confidence, according to AP. Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 60 cents at $71.01 by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 46 cents to settle at $70.41 Monday. Oil has loitered near the $70 a barrel level for months as traders struggle to gauge how strongly the U.S. economy will recover. Last week, poor jobs and manufacturing data undermined optimism, but on Monday the Institute for Supply Management said its service index showed that sector grew in September for the first time since August of last year. Crude traders often look to stock markets for a sense of overall investor confidence. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.2 percent Monday, and most Asian indexes gained in early trading Tuesday. In other Nymex trading, heating oil gained 1.10 cents to $1.80 a gallon. Gasoline for November delivery jumped 1.18 cents to $1.77 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery fell 2.5 cents to $4.96 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude rose 60 cents to $68.64 on the ICE Futures exchange.
