Crude oil hangs under $88

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices moved slightly higher Tuesday after the People's Bank of China said it will raise lending rates to slow its blistering economy.

In policy shifts intended to limit liquidity and slow inflation, the central bank in Beijing said it would raise one-year deposit rates to 3 percent and its one-year lending rate to 6.06 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March delivery light, sweet crude oil prices added 11 cents to $87.53 per barrel. Home heating oil prices added 2.89 cents to $2.735 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 4.74 cents to $2.4979 per gallon.

Natural gas prices shed 4.1 cents to $4.063 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline fell from Monday's $3.122 per gallon to $3.117, AAA said.