West Texas Intermediate crude climbed on optimism that U.S. lawmakers will agree on a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default.

Futures rose as much as 0.8 percent on optimism that a framework being negotiated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will end the 16-day-old government shutdown and extend U.S. borrowing authority, which lapses tomorrow. WTI and stocks extend gains as the National Review reported that House Speaker John Boehner was said to agree to take up a Senate plan to end the impasse.

WTI crude for November delivery rose 58 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $101.79 a barrel at 10:40 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract declined $1.20 to $101.21 yesterday, the lowest settlement since July 2. The volume of all futures traded was about 11 percent above the 100-day average.

Brent oil for November settlement, which expires today, rose 46 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $110.42 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The more-active December contract gained 71 cents to $110.13. Volume was 13 percent higher than the 100-day average.

Gold prices are falling on the background of ongoing negotiations in the U.S. to raise the upper limit of the national debt.

The gold market has not laid in quotes likelihood of a U.S. default , which can occur if the politicians fail to agree by Thursday , as investors assume that the solution will be found at the last moment . The leaders of the Senate of the United States reported that nearly agreed to raise the upper limit of borrowing and renewal of government funding , but on Tuesday an agreement was reached.

The investment firm Nomura Securities noted that gold is usually not growing or declining slightly on the eve of events such as the possible default of the U.S., but may rise later . During previous negotiations to raise the upper limit of U.S. debt in 2011, when the agreement was reached at the last moment , gold has responded only to lower the U.S. credit rating agency Standard & Poor's. In September 2011, the price of gold reached an absolute record $ 1,920 an ounce.

Gold fell by 4 per cent since the beginning of closing the U.S. Government on October 1 , and many observers believe that if politicians fail to agree , the prices will go up.

Surcharges for gold in India, the world leader in its consumption reached a record level of $ 100 per ounce due to lack of supply on the eve of a succession of holidays. Surcharges on the Shanghai Gold Exchange exceeded $ 20 per ounce compared to $ 7 two weeks ago.

The cost of the December gold futures on COMEX today dropped to $ 1268.60 per ounce.

GOLD 1,280.90 4.50 0.35%

OIL (WTI) 100.93 -1.48 -1.45%