WTI oil price nears $80 in early trading, at 3 month highs

WTI oil prices opening trading on Monday higher and is closing in on the $80 mark as the latest data out of China puts US Light crude oil back at 3 month highs.

US Light crude oil futures for September 2010 delivery was at $79.22, 07.00 GMT on the NYMEX which is the highest trading price since early May 2010.

Money managers have increased bets that oil prices would rise, or the so called net long crude oil positions, to the highest level since May, according to the US CFTF.

WTI oil prices have traded briefly above $80 earlier in 2010 before quickly sliding back into the $70s range amid signs the US economic recovery may slow in the second half of 2010.

Asian stock markets rose this morning on strong corporate earnings and shrugged off news that China manufacturing shrank in July amid investor hopes that the world’s fastest growing major economy will expand strongly.

European shares were expected to track Asia’s gains and a late recovery on Wall Street on Friday.

Meanwhile, the US dollar has fallen slightly by worries over the US economy after a bunch of data in the past month undershot US market expectations, and its slide has been exacerbated by some bearish signals on technical charts.