AFP, New York :
Oil prices rallied sharply Friday as the market shrugged off a disappointing US jobs report, finding upbeat details in the report suggesting modest economic growth.
The benchmark US futures contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March, leaped $2.04, or 2.1 percent, to close at $99.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent North Sea crude for March gained $2.69, or 2.5 percent, to settle at $109.57 a barrel on London’s Intercontinental Exchange.
Both futures contracts closed at their highest levels of the year to date. Earlier in the day the US contract crossed above the psychological level of $100.
