(RTTNews) - Crude prices advanced on Monday, edging back above $92 a barrel on the first trading day of 2011.
Nearly three years to the day oil first cracked $100 a barrel, crude continues to charge toward the triple-digit mark.
The price of light sweet crude for February was up $0.81 to $92.19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Volume was light, with many markets still closed for the New Year's holiday.
Crude pushed higher even as the dollar was steady against other major currencies.
Along with the dollar, oil inventories fell sharply in the final weeks of 2010, as the nation grappled with cold weather,
the results of the manufacturing survey of the Institute for Supply Management for December will be released at 10.00 a.m. ET. Economists expect the index to show a reading of 57.2 for December, slightly higher than a reading of 56.6 for November.
At the same time, the Commerce Department will table its report on Construction Spending for November. Economists predict a nominal 0.1% increase in construction spending for the month following the unexpected 0.7% month-over-month increase in October.
