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Crude oil rose for a third day to more than US$82 ($112) a barrel in New York and gold traded near a 16-month high, at US$726.95 an ounce, on speculation the US interest rate cut will bolster demand for fuel and commodities.
The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by a half point, more than economists predicted, to help sustain economic growth in the US, the world's largest oil-user.
Oil prices also climbed as Royal Dutch Shell evacuated staff from the Gulf of Mexico because of a potential storm forming over Florida.
The direction of the Florida storm "may take it right into the middle of the Gulf and that would be a problem", said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures in Huntington Beach, California.
An Energy Department report today will probably show US oil supplies dropped 2.03 million barrels last week, the 10th decline in 11 weeks, according to the median estimate from a Bloomberg News survey of 16 analysts.
World oil demand peaks in the fourth quarter when refiners make fuel for the northern hemisphere winter.
"It makes no sense for oil to be up as high as it is now," Excel's Waggoner said.
- Bloomberg
