TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Crude oil futures rose Friday in Asia, rebounding from a huge overnight drop in floor trade which prompted short-covering ahead of the weekend, while a strengthening euro helped boost prices. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at $76.74 a barrel at 0612 GMT, up $1.00 in the Globex electronic session. September Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.84 to $76.36 a barrel. The euro briefly touched $1.2900 in Asian trade, compared with an early $1.2822 low. Nymex crude fell 2.9% in New York Thursday, marking a third straight day of drops and a fall of more than 7% since Tuesday. An unexpected increase in U.S. jobless claims led crude and equities lower as traders avoided risky assets out of fear of a further growth slowdown in the U.S. "The fall last night was big, and has perhaps prompted traders here to cover shorts," Newedge Japan trader Rikio Ishikura said. Although market sentiment is weak due to the grim U.S. data, prices will likely gain some support as the peak of the hurricane approaches, and sharp drops are unlikely, market participants said. "This is not the time for fresh buys, but it would be a little hard to test $75/bbl," Ishikura said. A fall below the $75/barrel support is "not impossible, but to achieve it, the market will need a big negative factor like a huge drop in U.S. share prices," Nihon Unicom analyst Hiroyuki Kikukawa said. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for September--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 236 points to $1.9784 a gallon, while September heating oil traded at $2.0281, 266 points higher. ICE gasoil for September changed hands at $646.75 a metric ton, down $1.25 from Thursday's settlement.

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