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Summary Oil jumped as US economy grew and Europe appeared to turn the corner on its debt crisis.
Oil jumped more than 4 percent Thursday as the US economy grew and Europe appeared to turn the corner on its debt crisis.Benchmark crude rose $3.76, or 4.2 percent, to end the day at $93.96 per barrel in New York. Thats the highest its been since the first week of August. Brent crude, which is used to price oil thats imported into the U.S., rose $3.17, or 2.9 percent, to finish at $112.08 in London.Prices soared after European leaders announced an agreement to reduce Greeces debt and head off a default. After hours of intense negotiations, the Europeans unveiled a plan to cut Greek debt, bolster the continents banks to handle losses on Greek bonds and reinforce a European bailout fund.In the US, the government said the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter. Thats the strongest growth this year and quieted concerns that the country is headed for another recession.Stock markets also soared on the news. The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ all closed more than 3 percent higher.Oil hit a 2011 low earlier this month on concerns that Western nations might drop back into a second recession. Growing European debt problems threatened to plunge the entire region into a banking crisis, and the US economy was barely growing. The headlines on Thursday appeared to relieve those concerns, at least for now.
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