U.S. Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO) has broken above its 200-day simple moving average for the first time since the spring of 2012 as the oil ETF also clears a key resistance trend line.
USO was up nearly 2% on Thursday with crude futures rising above $95 a barrel in New York for the first time since September.
Oil prices jumped on supply concerns following an attack by militants on a natural-gas field in Algeria, MarketWatch reports.
“The nasty reawakening of geopolitical tensions always carries a premium for energy prices,” said Matthew Parry, senior oil-market analyst at the International Energy Agency, in the article.
Solid data on the U.S. economy was also supporting four-month highs in oil prices. Housing starts rose about 12% in December while jobless claims fell to the lowest level in five years.