SINGAPORE – Oil prices peeked above $60 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as investors looked to a weekly inventory report for clues on U.S. gasoline demand.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 76 cents to $60.28 a barrel by early afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract fell 17 cents to settle at $59.52.

Crude has loitered near $60 a barrel for the last few days as investors try to gauge the strength of the global economy. Oil shot to an eight-month intraday high of $73.38 a barrel on June 30, up more than double the price in March.