Reply #2: Oil near $103 amid falling dollar, rising stocks

[Pale Blue Dot]

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered near $103 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as traders mulled whether a weakening dollar could help push crude back to 2 1/2-year highs.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was down 15 cents to $102.54 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $2.11 to settle at $102.70 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude for July delivery was down 27 cents to $116.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Crude has risen from $96 last week as a falling dollar made commodities cheaper for investors with other currencies. The euro rose to $1.4415 from $1.4378 late Monday in New York. The dollar weakened to 81.36 yen from 81.50 yen.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices