NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices advanced on Monday as the U.S. dollar continued to slide from multi-decade highs.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery increased 99 cents, or 1.1 percent, to settle at 87.78 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November delivery added 1.16 dollars, or nearly 1.3 percent, to settle at 94 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The weaker U.S. dollar lent buoyancy to oil prices. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.62 percent to 108.3300 in late trading on Monday, following a 0.64-percent decrease in the prior session. Historically, the price of oil is inversely related to the price of the U.S. dollar.
Meanwhile, global recession concerns continued to weigh on the market. Recent comments from Federal Reserve officials reinforced the message to prioritize inflation-fighting over economic growth. A 75-basis-point rate hike from the European Central Bank last week added to fears that slower economic growth will hurt oil demand.
For the week ending Friday, the WTI dropped 0.1 percent, while Brent declined 0.2 percent, based on the front-month contracts. ■