Crude oil rose for the first day in three, as U.S. equities erased some of their losses after the close of floor trading yesterday, and stock futures advanced.

Oil is poised for its best-performing first quarter in three years and its first positive quarter since the second three months of 2008. Prices fell the most in four weeks yesterday as tumbling equity markets signaled that the recession in major energy-consuming countries may deepen, curbing fuel use.

Oil has “mimicked” the Dow Jones Industrial Average, said Mike Sander, an investment adviser at Sander Capital Advisors Inc. in Seattle. “The Dow rallied to only close down 250 instead of 300, so oil traded a bit higher in the after hours.”

Crude oil for May delivery rose 25 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $48.66 a barrel at 9:28 a.m. Sydney time on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, it fell $3.97, or 7.6 percent, to $48.41 a barrel, the lowest settlement on the Nymex since March 18. It was the biggest decline since March 2.

Prices are up 9.1 percent this year.

(Bloomberg.com)