Oil fluctuated in New York

West Texas Intermediate oil fluctuated in New York as German business confidence climbed to a 10-month high and U.S. crude inventories rose to the highest level since July.

Futures gained as much as 0.7 percent as the Munich-based Ifo institute’s business climate index increased, signaling that Europe’s largest economy is gathering strength. Oil tumbled $4.26 a barrel in the past two days. The drop accelerated yesterday after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude supplies rose 4.14 million barrels last week to 376.4 million. The selloff brings prices in line with underlying fundamentals, Jeffrey Currie, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s head of commodities research in New York, said in a report.

Ifo’s business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, climbed to 107.4 from 104.3 in January. Economists predicted an increase to 104.9, according to the median of 38 forecasts in a survey.

Crude oil for April delivery fell 12 cents to $92.72 a barrel at 11:24 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract ended at $92.84 yesterday, the lowest settlement since Dec. 31. Futures are down 3.3 percent this week.

Brent oil for April settlement climbed 26 cents to $113.79 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices are heading for a 3.3 percent drop this week. The volume was 19 percent lower than the 100-day average.