Oil prices rose to near $71 a barrel Monday in Asia as recovering stock markets bolstered the confidence of crude traders. Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 87 cents to $70.91 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 76 cents to settle at $70.04 on Friday. Higher stock prices in most Asian markets Monday helped buoy oil since traders look to equities as a barometer of overall global investor confidence. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.3 percent Friday, according to a report of the Associated Press. In other Nymex trading in June contracts, heating oil rose 1.34 cent to $1.911 a gallon, and gasoline gained 1.37 cent to $1.975 a gallon. Natural gas was up 1.3 cent at $4.05 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, the Brent crude July contact was up 51 cents to $72.19 on the ICE futures exchange.
