Summary Oil prices rose after the stock market tried to put the brakes on a four-day skid.
NEW YORK (AP) - The price of oil had a sudden burst Monday after the stock market tried to put the brakes on a four-day skid.
Benchmark oil for August delivery rose $1.49 to close at $95.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil sank by $4.55 a barrel, or 4.7 percent, on Thursday and Friday after the Federal Reserve spooked investors by signaling the end of a bond-buying program that has boosted the economy.
Oil fell initially Monday because of growing worries that China s decision to clamp down on informal lending could hamper growth in a major energy consuming country. Oil dropped as low as $92.67 a barrel.
Once stocks clawed back from their lowest levels of the day, oil moved higher, gaining nearly $2 a barrel in two hours. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 250 points in the first half-hour of trading Monday, then finished with a loss of 140 points.
Brent crude, which is used to price oil used by many U.S. refineries to make gasoline, rose 25 cents to finish at $101.16 a barrel.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex, natural gas slipped 3 cents to finish at $3.74 per 1,000 cubic feet (28.32 cubic meters).
