By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures climbed past $83 per barrel on Globex Monday afternoon in Asia to touch a fresh 15-month high, as a drop in the U.S. dollar boosted dollar-denominated commodities prices and Chinese data showed strong demand for crude imports in December.
Crude for February delivery climbed to a high of $83.67 per barrel in electronic trading on Globex, the strongest intraday level the contract has seen since October of 2008. It was last at $83.39, up 64 cents.
On Friday, the contract rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $82.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange to log a gain of 4.3% for the week.
Chinese imports jumped 55.9% higher in December, let by a surge in crude-oil imports to a record monthly high of 21.26 million tons. Exports rose 17.7% from the same time a year ago. See story on China trade data.
Commodities are "getting a big boost up" from the China data, said Ben Potter, a research analyst at IG Markets, pointing out that import and export numbers "smashed expectations."
Gold futures climbed by as much as $24 an ounce in electronic trade Monday morning in Asia to touch their strongest intraday level in more than a month. See Metals Stocks for more on gold.
Continued weakness in the dollar following disappointing U.S. jobs data Friday also provided support for crude-oil prices, with the dollar buying 92.19 yen, down from 92.49 late Friday in North American trading.
"Dollar carry trade is back on," said Christopher Ecclestone, a mining strategist at Global Hunter Securities. "The liquidity is looking for the next best thing -- and it's hard assets."
Carry trades involve borrowing lower-yielding currencies, such as the dollar, and investing the funds in higher-yielding assets.
