Crude oil futures advance to new record above $109 in New York (Bloomberg) (11-03-2008)

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Oil futures reached yet another record, jumping above $109 a barrel in New York, as the sinking dollar drew investors to commodities.

Also, the euro gained to $1.5489 against the dollar, a fresh record since its introduction in 1999, following a comment by ECB council member Axel Weber who said he doesn't see why borrowing costs should be lowered. Oil has advanced 13 percent this year as the tumbling dollar makes assets priced in the U.S. currency an appealing currency hedge.

Crude oil for April delivery rose as much as $1.82, or 1.7 percent, to $109.72 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $109.51 a barrel at 12:23 p.m. London time.

Brent crude for April settlement also rose to a fifth consecutive high, gaining as much as $1.66, or 1.6 percent, to $105.82 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators raised their bets that prices will rise last week. Bets on rising prices outnumbered so-called short positions by 99,539 contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data on March 7. That's the highest level since November.

Source: Bloomberg