Oil Rises for the First Time in Four Days as Dollar Weakens

By Grant Smith and Christian Schmollinger

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for the first time in four days as the U.S. dollar weakened, bolstering the appeal of commodities as a hedge against inflation.

Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as 98 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $113.99 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded for $113.80 at 8:27 a.m. London time. Yesterday, futures declined $1.44, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $113.01, the lowest close since May 1.

The dollar declined 0.5 percent to $1.4969 against the single European currency from a 5 1/2-month high of $1.4816 yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net