Investing.com - Crude oil futures rallied sharply on Thursday, as appetite for riskier assets improved amid a global stock market rally.
Crude oil for delivery in October on the New York Mercantile Exchange surged $1.46, or 3.78%, to trade at $40.06 a barrel during U.S. morning hours.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for October delivery jumped $1.66, or 3.84%, to trade at $44.80 a barrel.
The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $4.74 a barrel, compared to $4.54 by close of trade on Wednesday.
Wall Street rose sharply after the open on Thursday, with the Dow and S&P 500 extending strong gains from the prior session, when they notched their biggest one-day gain in four years.
Meanwhile, in China, the Shanghai Composite rallied more than 5% on Thursday to reclaim the critical 3,000-level, after crashing 23% over the past five sessions.
The upbeat sentiment carried over to European markets, where Germany's DAX rallied more than 3%, while France’s CAC 40 and London's FTSE 100 were both up around 2.5%.
Oil futures tumbled to six-and-a-half year lows earlier in the week, as steep declines on China's stock market and growing concerns over the health of the Asian nation's economy weighed.
The turmoil in markets began when China unexpectedly devalued the yuan earlier this month, sparking fears that the economy may be slowing at a faster than expected rate.