Crude Oil Falls Below $100

HOUSTON --- For the first time in a week, crude-oil futures traded below $100 a barrel Tuesday, as the dollar gained strength against the euro, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped $1.47 to $100.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange dropped 75 cents to $99.55.

Futures dipped early Tuesday morning, April 1, reflecting the movement of the dollar. Those gains accelerated at about 8:45 a.m. EDT, prompting oil prices to move below $100 a barrel for the first time since March 25, the Wall Street Journal reported. Investors have used commodities as a hedge against the weakening dollar.

"Perhaps there is a reassessment among the largest financial players as to what direction the overall commodities markets are heading," Nauman Barakat, senior vice president at Macquarie Futures USA in New York, told the Wall Street Journal. "[They think] the upper end has been tested, it's not going to be broken, perhaps the way to go is now to sell."