By Polya Lesova & Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Crude futures climbed above $82 a barrel in electronic trading on Monday, extending last week's gains on hopes of a swift recovery in the global economy.
Crude oil for April delivery rose to an intraday high of $82.47 a barrel on Globex.
The contract was last up 48 cents, or 0.6%, at $81.98 a barrel.
The oil price could exceed the recent trading range of between $70 and $82 a barrel, said analysts at Commerzbank AG in a note to clients.
"However, we remain skeptical about the medium-term prospects of the oil price, since physical demand is recovering slower than expected and, on the investment side, risks of possible interest rate hikes in the U.S. and China and a rise in risk aversion persist," they said.
Oil prices gained more than 2% last week, boosted by U.S. jobs data and positive comments from Chinese officials about economic growth.
The Labor Department said Friday U.S. nonfarm payrolls declined by 36,000 for February to 129.5 million. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch projected that 90,000 jobs would be lost.
Prices last week also found support after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in his report to the Chinese legislature that he would maintain an 8% growth rate for the economy this year. The positive economic outlook raised prospects for oil demand. Read more on Chinese government plans.
Looking ahead, crude prices may want to challenge the January high of $83.95, with support coming from the investment side of the market, said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at Telvent DTN.
"If the spot-month crude contract takes out the January high, the seasonal index would indicate an extended rally to near $96 through this summer," he said.
However, "the underlying supply and demand doesn't seem to support such a rally," he said, adding that the current price climb "looks like a seasonal rally ... with fundamentals still neutral to bearish."
