Oil Rises on U.S. Economic Data, Decision on Sanctions

Oil climbed, capping a second quarterly gain, after reports showed U.S. consumer sentiment and spending rose and President Barack Obama cleared the way for new sanctions targeting Iran.

Futures increased 24 cents as an index of consumer sentiment rose in March and U.S. purchases gained the most since July. Crude reached its intraday peak when Obama determined that world oil supplies were sufficient to proceed with sanctions on banks in countries that import Iranian oil.