CRUDE oil prices rose yesterday with the stock market as the dollar weakened against the euro.

Since oil is priced in dollars, it becomes more attractive to foreign investors as the dollar falls. Higher oil prices mean refiners have to pay more for crude to make gasoline and other refined products.

Benchmark crude rose 99 cents to settle at US$82.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

It's not clear how much longer oil prices will continue to rise in the short term. Supplies remain abundant and energy analysts Cameron Hanover say crude is overbought. Oil rose above US$84 a barrel on Thursday only to settle below US$82 as the dollar briefly rose against the euro.

The dollar's been falling for the past month because investors expect the Fed to buy government bonds to boost the U.S. economy. That should weaken the dollar further.

"It is abundantly evident that the Fed wants the U.S. dollar lower," Cameron Hanover wrote in a note to investors. "The problem from our perspective is that a telegraphed intention to pursue a weaker dollar is tantamount to pursuing higher oil prices. And those are neither good for the U.S. economy nor individual consumers."

The economic news was mixed yesterday, but positive enough to help push the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 11,000 mark. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were higher as well.

While the Labor Department said the economy lost 95,000 jobs, the Commerce Department said wholesale inventories and sales rose in August. Alcoa kicked off the quarterly earnings season Thursday afternoon with an outlook for higher aluminum prices and growing global demand for the metal.

In other Nymex trading gasoline gained 3.32 cents to settle at US$2.1512 a gallon, heating oil rose 3.01 cents to settle at US$2.2819 a gallon and natural gas picked up 3.4 cents to settle at US$3.651 per 1,000 cubic feet after dropping to a 52-week low of US$3.583 earlier in the session.

In London, Brent crude rose 60 cents to settle at US$84.03 per barrel on the ICE futures exchange.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)
• barrel [´bærəl] n.(琵琶)桶；圆筒 (初中英语单词)
• abundant [ə´bʌndənt] a.丰富的；充分的 (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• briefly [´bri:fli] ad.简短地；简略地 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)
• intention [in´tenʃən] n.意图；打算；意义 (初中英语单词)
• pursue [pə´sju:] v.追赶；追踪；从事 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• commerce [´kɔmə:s] n.商业；社交；交流 (初中英语单词)
• gasoline [´gæsəli:n] n.汽油 (高中英语单词)
• weaken [´wi:kən] v.(使)弱化；衰弱；稀薄 (高中英语单词)
• positive [´pɔzətiv] a.确定的 (高中英语单词)
• gallon [´gælən] n.加伦 (高中英语单词)
• session [´seʃən] n.会议；会期；(开庭)期 (高中英语单词)
• refined [ri´faind] a.精制的；文雅的 (英语四级单词)
• wholesale [´həulseil] n.&vt.批发 a.批发的 (英语四级单词)
• outlook [´autluk] n.眺望；景色；展望 (英语四级单词)
• aluminum [,ælju´miniəm, ,ælə´miniəm] n.铝 (英语四级单词)
• hanover [´hænəvə] n.汉诺威 (英语六级单词)
• perspective [pə´spektiv] n.望远镜 a.透视的 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (英语六级单词)