Oil prices jump 7% as cold weather boosts energy demand

NEW YORK: Global equity markets and oil prices climbed for a second day on Friday, providing some relief to bruised investors as frigid weather across the United States and Europe boosted energy demand.

Oil, which had tumbled during a recent rout in world markets, jumped about 7 percent and traded above $30 a barrel on higher short-term demand and as traders cashed in short positions.
Energy shares led the advance in the benchmark S&P 500 US equity index, which was up more than 1 percent in afternoon trading. Exxon Mobil rose 1.7 percent.
Comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday suggesting the bank could ease its monetary policy at its March meeting also helped encourage investors bruised by a brutal sell-off that began at the start of 2016.
"I do think that even just to get a couple of days here with neutral, rather than downward, movement is going to be a positive because it's going to settle some fears," said Paul Springmeyer, portfolio manager at US Bank's Private Client Reserve in Minneapolis.
"Long-term, the stability of the US economy is really what's at play here and all signs, with low inflation and low oil prices, are pointing to an ability to move forward and move higher," Springmeyer said.
Brent was last up 7.4 percent at $31.42, set for its biggest one-day rise since August 2015 and well above this week's low of $27.10, while US crude rose 7 percent to $31.59.
The MSCI All Country World Index rose 2.4 percent, while Europe's pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index jumped 3.0 percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 159.16 points, or 1 percent, to 16,041.84, the S&P 500 gained 32.24 points, or 1.72 percent, to 1,901.23 and the Nasdaq Composite added 101.09 points, or 2.26 percent, to 4,573.14.
Japan's Nikkei surged 5.9 percent, the most in more than four months. Chinese stocks, which had fallen almost 20 percent since the start of the year, rose 1.3 percent.
Investors seized on Draghi's comments and bet that the Bank of Japan might also ease policy further next week, while the Federal Reserve goes slow in raising U.S. rates this year.
The dollar rose, boosted by increased expectations of monetary easing by central banks in Europe and Japan, as well as strong US housing data.
The dollar touched a two-week high against the Japanese yen, rising 0.7 percent to 118.50 yen. The yen has risen nearly 3 percent against the greenback this year as the sell-off in oil and global equity markets encouraged traders to seek out the safe-haven currency.
US Treasuries prices fell as a resurgence in oil and stock prices sparked a fresh wave of selling of safe-haven government debt. Benchmark yields rose further from Wednesday's 3-1/2-month lows.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were down 18/32 in price to yield 2.082 percent, up 6 basis points from late on Thursday. The 10-year yield climbed from 1.939 percent on Wednesday, the lowest since early October.