Crude prices gyrate before ending higher

Crude prices seesawed sharply Thursday before following stock markets higher as bargain hunting and less bearish economic outlooks took hold in the markets. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in September, finished up $2.83 dollars to $85.72 per barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery advanced $1.34 to $108.02. The WTI contract dropped to as low as $81.03 a barrel halfway through the day before powering higher. Although traders decided the markets were oversold, there was still clear concern that global growth might slow, cutting into energy demand. "Growth concerns have pinned back oil prices at six-month lows, but current market turmoil distracts from supportive market fundamentals," said Lawrence Eagles of JPMorgan Chase. "However, with future economic growth becoming a central concern, we consider the implications for demand and supply if growth downgrades continue and what lessons, if any, the recession of 2008 provides," he said in a client note. Before US and European stocks rebounded, analysts had said the Wednesday rout in equities was pressuring the crude oil market. "I think markets are being weighed down by global equities markets... market sentiment is still uncertain as to what's going to happen in Europe and the US," said Ker Chung Yang, commodity analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore.