Wall Street Journal | Oil Prices Higher as Trading Slows Ahead of Christmas Wall Street Journal Oil prices rose Thursday, as many traders closed out their bearish bets ahead of a shortened trading session before the Christmas holiday. For February delivery, light, sweet crude futures rose 1.4% to $38.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil continues to push higher on US stockpile cheer Market uncertain about future oil prices Oil edges higher, hovers near 11-year low |