Crude oil prices advanced in early Asian trade Friday, driven by a weakening dollar and risks that Russia’s escalating involvement in Syria could hurt oil supply from the region. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at $49.90 a barrel at 0358 GMT, up $0.47 in the Globex electronic session. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.43 to $53.48 a barrel. The dollar was down 0.05% at $87.46, according to the Wall Street Journal Dollar index. As global oil prices are pegged to the dollar, a weaker greenback means lower costs for foreign buyers. Asian shares rallied Friday on prospect that the U.S. Federal Reserve might extend the easy money policy beyond the year-end, following a disappointing labor market data earlier this month. The Shanghai Composite Index opened up 0.2%, Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.6% while the S&P/ASX […]