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Crude oil surged on Monday and moved above the $50 a barrel mark. Light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $54.50, up $4.57 on the session. Prices reached as high as $55.30 in mid-day trading.

The U.S. dollar saw further weakness against other majors as traders considered a $20 billion bailout of Citigroup (C). The greenback slipped to a two-week low against the euro and also fell against the sterling and loonie.

The US government announced Sunday it would guarantee losses on more than $300 billion of Citi`s troubled assets. The government will also make a new $20 billion investment in the troubled bank.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may cut output again later this week as members meet in Cairo, Egypt. Recent reductions in production - including a 1.5 million cut in October - have been unable to slow the freefall in oil prices. Oil is down more than 65% from its record high of $147.27 in July. 

In Monday`s big news, President-elect Barack Obama on Monday officially unveiled key members of the incoming administration`s economic team, including New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as his Treasury Secretary and former Harvard President Lawrence Summers as Director of the National Economic Council.

On the economic front, a National Association of Realtors report showed that existing home sales fell 3.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.98 million units in October from a revised 5.14 million in September. Economists expected sales to fall to a 5.05 million unit rate compared to the 5.18 million originally reported for the previous month.

According to AAA`s daily fuel gauge, gasoline prices fell to $1.908 for an unleaded gallon on average across the U.S. This is down from $1.929 the day before, $2.735 a month ago and $3.086 one-year ago.

In its first trading day as the front-month contract, January crude gained 51 cents on Friday to finish at $49.93 a barrel. The price of oil showed a steep decline during trading on Thursday, with crude for December expiring at a three-year closing low of $49.62 a barrel, representing a decrease of $4 a barrel for the session.