Oil settles up 7% as Israel, Iran trade air strikes

HOUSTON: Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled 7% higher as Israel and Iran traded air strikes, feeding investor worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East.

Brent crude futures settled at US$74.23 a barrel, up US$4.87, or 7.02%, after earlier soaring over 13% to an intraday high of US$78.50, the strongest level since January 27.