Oil Back Over $60 on Economic Optimism

New York, NY, May 19, 2009--Oil rose above $60 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after investors took heart from signs the U.S. recession is easing.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was up $1.09 to $60.12 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, the contract jumped $2.69 to settle at $59.03.

Investors on Monday cheered a better-than-expected profit report from home improvement chain Lowe's Cos., an uptick in homebuilder sentiment and positive comments from analysts about U.S. banks, all of which suggested the U.S. economy is gradually emerging from a severe recession. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 2.9 percent.

While most analysts expect oil prices to increase over the next year as global economic growth recovers, some suspect the recent surge from below $35 a barrel in March may have gone too far, too fast.