(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil moved up Monday morning as traders await cues from a host of economic data due out this week.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for January delivery were up $0.55 to $84.31 a barrel. Last week, oil gained nearly 3% amid hopes of demand recovery.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar continued to hold on to its last week's gains, advancing to a fresh 2-month high against the euro even after the EU agreed to extend about $90 billion in bailout loans to Ireland.
The greenback also hovered near monthly highs versus sterling, the yen and the Swiss Franc. Last week, the greenback strengthened on concerns over the debt situation in euro zone and escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula.
With a light economic calendar today, traders will look to the movements in the equity and currencies markets to get trading clues.
This week's focus will be on the results of survey of consumer confidence, ADP employment report, ISM manufacturing Index, auto sales, pending home sales, weekly jobless claims and non-farm payrolls.
Weekly crude oil inventories data from the API and the EIA will also be eyed to get clues on the demand situation in the world's largest energy consuming nation.
