VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Oil prices rose Friday, adding to an overnight rebound as a more stable stock market calmed investor fears about the U.S. economy.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 61 cents to $88.72 a barrel by afternoon in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 97 cents to settle at $88.11 a barrel overnight.
The Dow Jones industrials inched higher Thursday after the sharp sell-off of recent days. Energy investors often view the stock market as a barometer of economic health, worrying that any slowdown in growth will lead to a corresponding slump in energy demand.
Also possibly supporting prices in Asia was Congress' final approval of a $168 billion (115.3 billion euros) rescue plan designed to put more money in the hands of Americans to revive a flagging economy. The approved package is more than 10 percent higher than the proposal President Bush had earlier negotiated with congressional leaders.
Still, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson indicated Thursday that Bush would sign the bill in hopes the infusion of cash to consumers and tax breaks for business would jolt the economy out of its slump.
Prospects that supplies would tighten in the short term also added to bullish sentiment.
Vienna's JBC Energy noted Thursday's decision by Royal Dutch Shell PLC to halt exports from one of its key terminals in Nigeria's volatile delta through March. ""As a result, Nigeria's loss in oil production could total 1 million"" barrels a day over the next few weeks,"" said its news letter.
Shell said it was suspending exports from its Bonny terminal through March because it is unable to repair a leak due to security concerns. The leak has halted the flow of 130,000 barrels of crude per day, the company said.
In Asia, most of the major stock exchanges were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, so there was little regional sentiment to help push oil prices higher. In Japan, on the region's largest bourse, the Nikkei 225 stock index fell 1.4 percent. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.1 percent.
U.S. government and corporate data on Thursday continued to paint an uncertain picture for the health of the world's largest economy. Pending home sales dropped to their second lowest level on record in December, the National Association of Realtors said, while some of the nation's big retailers reported disappointing January sales.
Also, the Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, raising new concerns that the cooling U.S. economy could be affecting economies abroad — but also raising hopes that such measures will limit the impact of a slowdown.
March Brent crude rose 55 cents to $89.06 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.
Heating oil futures gained more than 2 cents to fetch $2.4807 a gallon (3.8 liters) and gasoline over a penny, selling at $2.810 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 3.7 cents to $8.139 per 1,000 cubic feet.