An Eye On Oil

Oil futures jumped 2.8% on Tuesday, to $70.01 a barrel. That is the highest settlement price we have seen since November 4th. The latest jump came after the American Petroleum Institute reported a bigger than expected drop in stockpiles last week.

A falling dollar contributed to oil’s rise and pushed raw materials prices higher across the board. The U.S. Dollar Index tumbled 1.2% while the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index rose 2%. Most commodities are traded in dollar terms so a weaker U.S. currency means it takes more dollars to buy the commodity.