FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, file photo, specialist Michael O'mara, left, and trader Robert Moran work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Stock markets were in a holding pattern ahead of a U.S. jobs report later Friday Dec. 7, 2012 that is expected to reflect a downturn in hiring following a massive storm but could also show that the American economy is otherwise bouncing back. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
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FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, file photo, specialist Michael O'mara, left, and trader Robert Moran work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Stock markets were in a holding pattern ahead of a U.S. jobs report later Friday Dec. 7, 2012 that is expected to reflect a downturn in hiring following a massive storm but could also show that the American economy is otherwise bouncing back. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
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FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 file photo, a protester wears glasses with the euro and dollar symbols painted on the lenses before protesting the conservative government's handling of the economic crisis and to demand fresh elections, in Madrid. Many had hoped that 2012 would be the year when the global economy finally regained its vigor, but the three largest economies: The United States, China and Japan struggled, while the 17 countries that use euro endured a third painful year in their financial crisis and slid into recession, and emerging economies slowed. (AP Photo/Paul White, File)
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FILE - In this May 12, 21012 file photo, protesters pack the Puerta del Sol plaza in central Madrid. Worldwide growth was slack again in 2012. The global economy grew just 3.3 percent, down from 3.8 percent in 2011 and 5.1 percent in 2010, the International Monetary Fund estimates. (AP Photo/Paul White, File)
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FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event at Cheyenne Sports Complex in Las Vegas. In 2012, Obama vaulted to a re-election victory over Mitt Romney, who had staked his bid on the weakest U.S. economic rebound since the Great Depression and had pledged to slash taxes. Yet Obama won despite the highest unemployment rate of any president seeking re-election since World War II. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
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FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama acknowledges House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio while speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. A dreaded package of tax increases and deep spending cuts to domestic and defense programs loomed over the economy in 2012 as Congress and the White House negotiated the budgetary steps needed to avoid it. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
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FILE - In this May 18, 2012 file photo provided by Facebook, Facebook founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, rings the Nasdaq opening bell from Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Years of anticipation led to Facebook's initial public offering of stock in 2012, the hottest Internet IPO since Google’s in 2004. Many of the 1 billion-plus users of the world’s largest online social network craved a chance to buy in early. On the eve of its first trading day, Facebook’s market value was $105 billion, yet the IPO bombed. (AP Photo/Nasdaq via Facebook, Zef Nikolla, File)
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FILE - In this May 16, 2012 file photo, construction workers wrap a home in protective sheeting as they frame a new home in Chester, Va. After a six-year slump that sent more than 4 million homes into foreclosure and shrank home prices about one-third nationwide, the U.S. housing market began to recover in 2012. Modest job gains and record-low mortgage rates fueled demand. (AP Photo/Steve Helbe, File)
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FILE - In this July 26, 2011 file photo, Austin Mitchell, left, and Ryan Lehto work on an oil derrick outside of Williston, N.D. In 2012, domestic crude oil production achieved its biggest one-year gain since 1951, driven by output in North Dakota and Texas. The United States is on pace to pass Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer within two years. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
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FILE - In this June 13, 2012 file photo, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, head of the largest bank in the United States, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Banking Committee about how his company recently lost more than $2 billion on risky trades. Throughout 2012, banks faced scrutiny as drama ensued. JPMorgan Chase lost $6 billion in a complex series of trades. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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FILE - In this Thursday, June 28, 2012 file photo, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., center, holds up a copy of the Supreme Court's health care ruling during a news conference by the GOP Doctors Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Supreme Court caught many by surprise when it backed the Obama administrationís health care reform in June 2012. The law requires Americans to buy insurance or pay a tax, while subsidizing the needy. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
Oil follows stocks higher
The price of oil rose slightly Tuesday, following stocks and continuing a run-up that began two months ago.
Benchmark crude for March delivery rose 80 cents to finish at $96.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Nymex floor trading was closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday in the U.S. The contract fell $1.45 on Friday.
Oil prices have been rising since mid-December, when oil traded around $87 per barrel. Analysts noted that investors have bought into oil markets speculatively in recent weeks on hopes for a stronger recovery in the global economy.
Stocks rose because of reports of a possible merger between Office Depot and OfficeMax, which investors took as a sign that more deals could be on the way.
Addison Armstrong, an analyst at Tradition Energy, noted that the latest trading report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed that managers have boosted bets on rising oil prices by 4.4 percent for the week that ended Feb. 12.
Economic indicators have been mixed, however, showing many parts of Europe remain in recession and the U.S. only gradually recovering. That leaves crude oil prices vulnerable to a sell-off, according to analysts at Commerzbank.
In the U.S., a report on Tuesday showed that confidence among homebuilders slipped compared to January, as builders remain concerned about the sturdiness of the U.S. economy and the risk of rising unemployment.
In Germany, a survey of investor confidence was upbeat on Tuesday but, looking ahead, traders are concerned about political developments elsewhere in the 17-country eurozone, mainly Italy. Polls have suggested that elections are likely to produce a split parliament, making it difficult for a coalition government to push through unpopular economic reforms.
Brent crude, used to price many international varieties of oil, was down 34 cents to $117.66 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:
— Heating oil fell 2.98 cents to $3.1806 per gallon.
— Wholesale gasoline fell 1.33 cents to $3.1212 per gallon.
— Natural gas added 11.9 cents to $3.2720 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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