NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices charged higher Friday as equities on Wall Street rallied on reassurances from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
"The task of economic recovery and repair remains far from complete," Bernanke said as he outlined options left to the Fed to stimulate the economy. "Monetary policy continues to play a prominent role in promoting the economic recovery."
The speech helped the Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq index to each post gains of at least 1.6 percent Friday.
In commodities trading, crude oil prices for October delivery gained $2.17 to $75.53 per barrel. Heating oil for October added 0.0414 cents to $2.065 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline gained 0.0554 cents to $1.924 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas lost 0.122 cents to $3.721 per million British thermal units.
At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline fell to $2.682 per gallon Friday, AAA said.
