Crude oil futures recouped previous session’s losses and ended significantly higher on Friday with gains of over one and half a percent amid ongoing fears of an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a broader regional conflict. Attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels against merchant shipping in the Red Sea as well as a U.S. airstrike that killed top leader of an Iran-backed terrorist group in Iraq added to the concerns.
Benchmark crude oil futures for February delivery surged by $1.62 or 2.2 percent to settle at $73.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery rose by $1.17 or 1.51 percent to settle at $78.76 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.