Oil futures race to record close above $138 US

S&P/TSX composite index 3-month chart

Oil prices surged more than $10 US a barrel Friday to new record highs amid bullish forecasts and Middle East tensions.

Crude oil futures soared $10.75 US a barrel to settle at $138.54 US on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Light sweet crude for July delivery traded as high as $139.12 US earlier in the day. That easily topped the previous all-time high of $135.09 US a barrel set on May 22.

It was the biggest one-day gain in oil prices in the history of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Money was streaming back into the oil market after an analyst at investment bank Morgan Stanley predicted a "short-term spike in oil prices" that could see oil futures hitting $150 US a barrel as early as July 4.

Israeli government comments that an attack on Iranian nuclear sites appeared "unavoidable" also boosted prices, analysts said. Iran is the second biggest producer in OPEC.

It was the second straight day of strength in oil prices. They added $5.49 US a barrel on Thursday, after the European Central Bank president said he might have to raise interest rates to fight inflation.

The heavily weighted TSX energy sub-index rose 1.6 per cent Friday, making it one of the few gainers in the Toronto market.

"Oil stocks did go up today with that big move in oil … but most of them are still below their all-time highs, so certainly there's some skepticism about the sustainability of this increase," said Laura Wallace, managing director of Coleford Investment Management.

TSX sheds gains after intraday record

As for the Toronto market, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 13 points to close at 14,970 as it lost all of its earlier gains. The index climbed as high as 15,154 in morning trading. That broke the previous intraday record high set a little more than two weeks ago, when the index first crossed the 15,000 level.

Gold futures also jumped Friday — up $23.60 an ounce to settle at $895.40 US. Gold prices usually rise when the U.S. dollar weakens.

The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 395 points to close at 12,210. Record oil prices increased market concern that higher gasoline prices would hurt consumer spending and corporate profits.

The U.S. Labour Department also said the jobless rate jumped half a percentage point to 5.5 per cent and the U.S. economy lost 49,000 jobs — the fifth straight month of jobs losses.

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