A downgrade of the credit ratings of 15 of the world's biggest banks by ratings agency Moody's to reflect the risk of losses they face from volatile capital markets weighed on commodities and equities.
Brent crude reverse course to trade at 90.23 dollars, up 1.00 dollar.
U.S. crude was up 55 cents at $78.75, after a four per cent drop on Thursday.
"It has been a long fall, driven by global economic slowdown and oil fundamentals such as weaker demand from China," said Tony Machacek, oil futures broker at Jefferies Bache.
A downgrade of the credit ratings of 15 of the world's biggest banks by ratings agency Moody's to reflect the risk of losses they face from volatile capital markets weighed on commodities and equities.
Brent crude reverse course to trade at 90.23 dollars, up 1.00 dollar.
U.S. crude was up 55 cents at $78.75, after a four per cent drop on Thursday.
"It has been a long fall, driven by global economic slowdown and oil fundamentals such as weaker demand from China," said Tony Machacek, oil futures broker at Jefferies Bache.
"Technical indicators show the market is a little bit oversold, so there could be some short-covering around.
"A closely watched technical indicator, the relative strength index, for Brent has dropped to 18, suggesting prices are oversold and a rebound may be due.
"But in general, the technical picture contains few bright spots," said one analyst.
"The daily and weekly charts are just terrible," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix.
"If Brent wants to maintain some hope for next week it needs to at least regain 90 dollars for today's close."
The price of Brent has fallen more than eight per cent this week, in its biggest weekly drop since the middle of last year.
"It is not surprising to see an intra-day bounce, but I don't expect this to last," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. (Reuters/NAN)
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