Oil rallies, mirroring Shanghai Composite

NEW YORK, July 9 (UPI) -- Recovery on the Chinese stock market and heated exchanges on the prospects of an Iranian nuclear deal sent crude oil prices soaring early Thursday.

China's Shanghai Composite Index, in a free-fall for most of the week, recovered by the closing bell Thursday, up 203.7 points, or 5.79 percent. A running of the bulls in the Chinese stock market pushed oil prices into positive territory in May, though the recent crash weighed heavily on the minds of investors worried about the health of one of the world's largest economies.

Slowing, but growing still in recent years, the government in Beijing said it was focused on qualitative over quantitative expansion.

Brent crude oil prices gained 2.6 percent in early Thursday trading to $58.59 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was up 2.4 percent from the previous session to $52.91 per barrel.

Both indices are far below the start of July amid lingering concerns over the outcome of ongoing talks between Greece and international and European lenders. Though a deadline to break the impasse has been extended until the weekend, the Bank of Greece said Thursday it would honor only those transactions carried out by government-related entities.

"No other transaction with the public will be carried out [until Monday]," the bank said.

Greece's economy figured heavily during the latest global financial crisis, from which most major economies are still working to recover.

Meanwhile, nuclear talks continued in Vienna over Iran's nuclear program. Iran's state media report talks were at times heated, though Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said preparations were underway for a post-sanctions economy.

An agreement could put more Iranian crude oil on an already oversupplied market, though regional tensions could ease considerably as a result of a breakthrough nuclear deal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, present at the talks in Vienna, said an agreement could emerge as early as Thursday.