Oil prices waffle on profit-taking, dollar

Oil prices seesawed March 6 as some investors collected profits from a rally that added 6.4 percent to crude’s price in less than two days while others bought as the dollar reached new lows against the euro.

March 6 brought a mixed slate of economic news. Although reports on same-store sales suggested some retailers are doing better than expected and the number of people filing for unemployment claims dropped last week, home foreclosures jumped in the fourth quarter to an all-time high, according to The Mortgage Bankers Association.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England, meanwhile, decided to leave interest rates unchanged. The foreclosure data and European interest rate decisions helped push the dollar lower. Analysts believe the steadily weakening dollar is the reason oil prices have jumped to a number of new inflation-adjusted record highs. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling.

Still, after a big gain, investors often sell some positions to lock in profits, analysts said.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 53 cents to $103.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier spiking to a new record of $105.97. Prices frequently alternated between gains and losses.

Keeping a floor under oil prices was an overnight rebel attack on a Colombian oil pipeline that transports 60,000 barrels of oil a day for export markets.

—The Associated Press