Despite flat fundamentals in major economic indicators, crude oil prices in New York topped $83 per barrel Wednesday on a weaker dollar.

It was shown by the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index that a 10-city price index was flat from a year ago in January, while the 20-city index was down 0.7 percent.

23,000 jobs were lost in March, Automatic Data Processing said on Wednesday. Economists predict Friday's Labor Department report will show unemployment unchanged at 9.7 percent.

The dollar index, a pro-rated measure of the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.5 percent on Wednesday.

The price of light, sweet crude for May delivery added 83 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange from a recent settlement to $83.20 per barrel.

Adding 0.0284 cents, heating oil futures for May delivery closed at $2.16 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blend-stock for May rose 0.0179 cents to $2.29 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices for May lost 0.108 cents to $3.865 per million British thermal units.

According to the reports of AAA, at the retail level, the average national price for unleaded regular gasoline was $2.798 per gallon Wednesday, up from Tuesday's $2.795. (With Inputs from Agencies)