Oil climbed more than 2 percent Tuesday on a weaker dollar and an uptick in the U.S. housing market, AP reported. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery gained $2.12 to $98.05 per barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, which is used to price many international oil varieties, gained $2.00 at $118.05 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Prices rose as the dollar dropped against the euro and other major currencies. Oil, which is priced in dollars, tends to rise as the dollar weakens and makes crude cheaper for investors holding foreign money. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said construction of new homes grew by 14.6 percent last month. The report said builders began work on a seasonally adjusted 629,000 homes in June. That's about half of what economists say are needed to sustain a healthy housing market. The increase was nevertheless taken as a hopeful sign for the battered industry. In other Nymex trading for August contracts, heating oil added 4 cents at $3.1190 per gallon, while gasoline futures gained 5 cents at $3.1424 per gallon. Natural gas was virtually unchanged at $4.528 per 1,000 cubic feet. -- SPA
