Crude oil rose to a record above $144 a barrel in New York as the European Central Bank is poised to increase interest rates and U.S. stockpiles unexpectedly fell to their lowest since January.
Economists are forecasting the ECB will raise its 4 percent benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point today, weakening the dollar and spurring commodity buying as an inflation hedge.
Investors are purchasing oil, which has doubled this past year, as U.S. equities slump, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index falling yesterday to its lowest level in two years.
Crude oil for August delivery climbed as much as $1, or 0.7 percent, to $144.57 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since trading began in 1983. It was at $144.45 at 3:07pm in Singapore.
