Oil prices jumped sharply higher in late...
Oil prices jumped sharply higher in late trading in response to market rumors that Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had died. The rumors, which could not be confirmed, turned a thin, lackluster trading day into a rally, observers said. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the July contract for West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude oil, finished 13 cents higher to settle at $16.66 per 42-gallon barrel. The contract lost 30 cents and had slipped as low as $16.30 before the Khomeini rumor hit.
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