Oil reaches one-week high on stimulus talk as coronavirus fears linger

Crude oil rose to the highest in more than a week in New York and London on optimism that a deal could still be struck for a fresh round of stimulus spending before the election.

The market also drew some support from US stocks which rallied after four weeks of declines, as well as a weaker dollar which makes commodities priced in the greenback more attractive. Yet concerns over the pandemic haven’t gone away and gains were limited by the prospect of renewed lockdown measures to combat the virus.

“The extent to which there’s hope in the market for a deal, that’s trickling through to the petroleum complex,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC. “It should help demand here.”