NEW YORK, United States — Oil prices bounced back to settle higher yesterday after the stock market reversed course and gained ground.

Benchmark crude for August delivery rose 90 cents to settle at US$77.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Tuesday is the last trading day for the August contract and most interest shifted to the September contract, which added 68 cents to close at US$77.58.

“Oil markets are still dominated by woes about the state of the economy, while oil fundamentals come second,” JBC Energy said in a report. “To reduce the substantial slack in oil markets, a marked improvement in oil demand is required.”

In other Nymex trading in August contracts, heating oil rose 0.77 cent to settle at US$2.0247 a gallon, gasoline gained 1.96 cents to settle at US$2.0786 a gallon and natural gas added 8 cents to settle at US$4.590 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude rose 60 cents to settle at US$76.22 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.