Oil prices rose 3.6 percent on Thursday to settle at $82 a barrel, as Europe moved closer to pumping aid to the region's troubled banks and U.S. data showed jobless benefit claims rose less than expected last week.
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Then oil futures marched higher as investors waded back into riskier assets, helping lift global equities and major commodities such as copper, which rose to a week's high.
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crisis, a drag on commodities and equities, eased when European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU's top executive body proposed a coordinated recapitalization of banks.
crisis, a drag on commodities and equities, eased when European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU's top executive body proposed a coordinated recapitalization of banks.Markets were further bolstered after German Chancellor Angela Markel said Europe should not hesitate to recapitalize its banks if this prevents greater economic damage.
New claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, feeding hopes for an improved labor market on the eve of the September non-farm payrolls report.
"The markets are looking to embrace even the slightest improvement in the economy," said John Kilduff, a partner at hedge fund Again Capital in New York.
Friday's jobs report, an early indicator of how the economy fared last month, was forecast to show that nonfarm payrolls likely added 60,000 after being flat in August and that the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.1 percent.
Brent crude futures for November delivery [LCOCV1 105.40 
2.67 (+2.6%) 
]last rose $2.78 to $105.51 a barrel, climbing back from an intraday low of $101.53. U.S. light, sweet crude futures [CLCV1 82.59 --- UNCH ] gained $2.91 to settle at $82.59 a barrel.
2.67 (+2.6%) ]last rose $2.78 to $105.51 a barrel, climbing back from an intraday low of $101.53. U.S. light, sweet crude futures [CLCV1 82.59 --- UNCH ] gained $2.91 to settle at $82.59 a barrel.Trading volume on Brent crude was around 455,000 contracts, 17 percent below its 30-day average and topping U.S. light, sweet crude, which traded around 452,000 contracts, 29 percent below its 30-day average.
Despite the day's sharp gains analysts saw more downside risk for crude futures, given economic weakness in the United States and the debt crisis in the euro zone.
Also, with some of the oil production curbed by the war in Libya and interruptions in the North Sea and Nigeria was now finding its way back into the market, the supply fundamentals for oil are "pretty strong right now," Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said at the Washington Ideas Forum.
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