Bouncing back

Oil has fallen by about half since reaching a record US$147.27 on July 11. Video Watch more on oil's slide »

"I think the market has been way oversold," said Gavin Wendt, head of mining and resources research at consultancy Fat Prophets in Sydney told AP. "The sentiment has been dominated by fear and panic, and when people are scared, they just keep selling."
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Light, sweet crude for November delivery was up US$3.02 to US$72.87 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract dropped overnight US$4.69 to settle at $69.85, the lowest settlement price since Aug. 23, 2007.

Investors have been concerned that recent turmoil in the global financial system would trigger a worse than expected slowdown in economic activity