Oil rises to above $95 a barrel after US holiday

The price of oil rose to above $95 a barrel Tuesday, supported by gains on global stock markets as traders awaited U.S. economic indicators following a long holiday weekend.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for July delivery was up 90 cents to $95.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 10 cents on Friday. Monday was a public holiday in the U.S. and Britain.

Tuesday's rise was set to break a four-day streak of losses for oil prices on the Nymex.

"A bullish tone across the global equity markets supported crude oil prices higher," said a report from Sucden Financial Research in London.

It noted that an OPEC meeting in Vienna later this week will draw investors' attention to the issue of oil supplies, which have been ample in recent months. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has an official production quota of 30 million barrels a day, but has been regularly overshooting that aim since last year.

Experts think global energy demand could weaken after a survey by HSBC Corp. released last week showed a decline in China's manufacturing for May. An official report on factory production in the world's second-largest economy will be released later in the week.

Meanwhile, data releases later Tuesday in Washington, including indexes of home prices and consumer confidence, should help clarify the state of the recovery in the world's biggest economy. First-quarter U.S. growth figures will be issued Thursday.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, was up $1.47 to $104.11 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline rose 2.69 cents to $2.855 a gallon.

— Heating oil climbed 4.75 cents to $2.9019 per gallon.

— Natural gas shed 0.1 cent to $4.236 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.