Oil futures rallied Tuesday morning after five days of losses, as the market followed firmer equities and a rise in the euro against the dollar.
European crude benchmarks led the recovery, which started when European equity markets opened trade after a flat overnight session.
Prices peaked soon after the euro touched an intraday high of $1.29 against the dollar during a successful Irish bond auction.
At noon in London, the front-month October Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was 1.5% higher at $76.77 a barrel. The contract had earlier hit a high of $77.03 a barrel.
Light, sweet crude oil for September delivery was up 81 cents to $76.05 on the Globex exchange.