Oil prices make historic gain

NEW YORK: The price of oil, below $100 for much of last week, rocketed to its biggest one-day dollar gain in history as speculators had to buy at any price to deliver on contracts expiring that day.

Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery closed the Nymex trading day Monday at $120.92 per barrel, a leap of $16.37 a barrel from Friday's close.

The run-up smacked against Nymex's $10 limit, halting electronic trading for five minutes in the afternoon before the limit automatically reset to $20.

There was no interruption in "open-outcry" trading at the Nymex, says spokeswoman Brenda Guzman.