Brent crude rose nearly 2% on Monday after Libya's oil exports dropped, while stocks were little changed at record highs on expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its loose monetary policy in place this week.
The U.S. dollar edged up but held close to a nine-month low against a basket of currencies as Fed policy continued to determine the overall trend.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-setting arm, is unlikely to make any shift in policy at its two-day meeting that ends Wednesday as it awaits more evidence of how badly Washington's recent budget battle hurt the U.S. economy.
Most risk assets rose last week as the uncertainty caused by the U.S. government shutdown and a mixed batch of economic data convinced many that the Fed would delay any move to begin trimming its stimulus into next year.
With the dollar trading near its lowest levels of the year against most major currencies, however, and the euro near a two-year high and many major global share indexes near record highs, investors were wary of pushing prices higher.
The dollar index was up 0.2% at 79.337, not far from a near nine-month low of 78.998 touched on Friday. The euro dipped to $1.3782, having touched a high of $1.3833 late last week.
The longer the Fed keeps its policy loose, the longer U.S. yields will stay low, making the dollar less attractive.
U.S. stocks were little changed, with the S&P 500 near the record set on Friday as traders awaited earnings from Apple due after the closing bell.
The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 2.84 points, or 0.02%, at 15,573.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.32 points, or 0.13%, at 1,762.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.99 points, or 0.05%, at 3,941.37.
The S&P 500 closed at a record on Friday. The benchmark was stuck in a 5.1 point range on Monday, which could be its tightest for any day in almost eight months.
MSCI's world equity index, which tracks share moves in 45 countries, was up 0.2%, marking a fourth day of gains as it climbed back toward last week's peak, last seen in January 2008.
After opening in line with Asian markets' gains, Europe's main indexes turned lower to reflect a more mixed set of corporate earnings and caution over the recent run up.
The broad FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.1% as it shed some of last week's 0.6% gain, which had taken the index to a five-year high.
In the oil market, Brent crude briefly hit more than $109 a barrel after a new drop in Libya's oil exports revived supply concerns, while strong gains in U.S. industrial output boosted demand hopes.
Brent rose 1.6% to $108.59 a barrel and U.S. crude added 0.4% to $98.21 a barrel.
The likelihood that Fed cash will keep flowing into the financial system for longer than many had anticipated supported gold and other metal markets. But after strong gains last week, these markets were also wary of pushing much higher.
Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,353.20 an ounce, after hitting a five-week high of $1,356.50. Copper was also up 0.1% at $7,191.50 a ton.
