SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures rose Monday on news U.S. consumer spending rebounded, suggesting the U.S. economy kept growing, albeit modestly. The news stoked hopes that demand for oil may head higher along with prices.
So far, futures have been ticking higher. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November CLX4, -0.21% rose $1.03, or 1.1%, to settle at $94.57 a barrel. Oil has gained 2.2% in the last two sessions.
November Brent crude LCOX4, +0.07% on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose 20 cents to end at $97.20 a barrel.
Natural-gas futures NGX14, -0.14% rallied 3.1%, their largest gain since June 12. The November contract rose 12.50 cents to end at $4.1540 per million British thermal units.
Wall Street expects a significant rise in natural-gas supplies for the week ended Sept. 26, but traders were looking at above-normal temperatures in Texas and California through mid-October, raising hopes of “lingering cooling demand,” at the same time heating demand is starting in some U.S. states, said Matt Smith, an analyst with Schneider Electric.
Gasoline futures also gained Monday, as planned and unplanned refinery outages provided support to futures. Gasoline futures have been up for four of the past five sessions.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for October RBV4, +0.14% rose 3.4 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $2.6963 a gallon.
Refinery shutdowns included Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, -1.05% Baytown refinery in Texas, and work at Phillips 66 PSX, -0.56% refineries in Texas and Louisiana, according to media and company reports.
Heating oil for October delivery HOV4, -0.11% gained less than a penny to settle at $2.7041 a gallon. Heating oil futures gained for the fourth consecutive session.
The Commerce Department said Monday the consumer spending rebound in August was due to sales of new cars and trucks as well as more spending on services.
