LONDON: World oil prices rose Thursday in the wake of positive economic data from the United States, a key energy consumer. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January added 53 cents to $86.37 a barrel in late afternoon London trade. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January, gained 62 cents to $84.48. “Crude oil prices extended gains ... supported by gains in Wall Street and Asian markets after stronger than expected US economic data (Wednesday) brought risk appetite back to the market,” said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou. “It seems that the persistent concerns about a contagious debt crisis in the eurozone have been overshadowed by stronger-than-expected macroeconomic figures from the US and China.” Meanwhile, stock exchanges of countries at the forefront of investor concerns over Europe's debt crisis closed lower Thursday, on a day when trading activity was light as Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Ireland's ISEQ fell 1.2 percent, Spain's IBEX dropped 0.3 percent and Portugal's PSI-20 ended 0.4 percent lower. Greece's ASE composite index ended 0.7 percent lower, too. Europe's healthier economies saw their markets advance. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 41.83 points, or 0.7 percent, at 5,698.93, while Germany's DAX rose 55.86 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6,879.66. The CAC-40 in France ended 12.81 points, or 0.4 percent, lower at 3,760.42. In Ireland, banking stocks continued to drop amid mounting expectations that they will be fully nationalized during the country's impending bailout.
