Crude-oil futures rose in Asian trade Friday after U.S. President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes in Iraq and data showed China’s oil imports in July rose from a month earlier. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at $98.04 a barrel at 0521 GMT, up $0.70 in the Globex electronic session. September Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.96 to $106.40 a barrel. The U.S. has authorized targeted airstrikes in Iraq along with emergency humanitarian assistance in the country’s north. President Obama said the U.S. would act to protect American personnel and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. “Right now the market reaction is how the market typically reacts when there is headline news on geopolitical tensions. This is traditional behaviour,” economist Barnabas Gan at Singapore’s OCBC Bank said. Oil had slumped to a multi-month low in the last […]