Oil near $87 after hitting two-year high

Oil remained near $87 a barrel Friday after reaching a two-year high as the Federal Reserve's plan to buy $600 billion of Treasury bonds to stimulate the U.S. economy drove a tide of cash into stocks and commodities.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for December delivery was up 35 cents at $86.84 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, it reached $87.22 — its highest point since Oct. 2008. On Thursday, the contract climbed $1.80 to settle at $86.49.

The Fed's announcement Wednesday underlined expectations that the dollar would weaken further and push up prices for commodities including oil.

The strength of …