The price of North Sea oil (Brent) has stabilised around $76-77 per barrel after sharp rises earlier this week. Market concerns are being somewhat dampened by reports from Washington about ongoing talks with Iran, despite this week's new fighting around the Persian Gulf.
Leading Asian stock markets were up overnight after a positive close on Wall Street on Thursday.
The OMXS index on the Stockholm Stock Exchange - where investors are currently positioning themselves for next week's flood of reports from major listed companies - rose 1.4 percent on Thursday. Since the turn of the year, the OMXS index is up 5.3 percent.
