After posting losses in the previous three session, crude oil futures climbed higher on Thursday as the dollar weakened on bets the Federal Reserve is done with its rate hiking cycle.
The dollar shed ground against most major currencies today. The dollar index, which dropped to 105.81, recovered to 106.13 later on in the session, but still remained well below the flat line, losing about 0.72%.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $2.02 or about 2.5% at $82.46 a barrel.
Brent crude futures settled at $86.85 a barrel, gaining about 2.6%.
Oil was also supported by recent data showing just a small increase in crude stockpiles in the U.S. in the week ended October 27th.
"Crude prices are having a nice rally and it has nothing to do with the supply or demand outlook. Oil is benefiting from a weakening dollar that emerged after another soft round of labor data," says Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA.
"With geopolitical risks failing to trigger a significant escalation, the primary driver for crude is slowly shifting back to the demand outlook. Today's US labor data and BOE's growth outlook are hardly inspiring. WTI is looking vulnerable on a break below the $80 level given all the oil mergers that will ultimately lead to more production," Moya adds.
