NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil rose for the fourth straight session Thursday after European leaders pledged to help debt-ridden Greece, easing worries that a default might hurt global markets.
What prices are doing: Crude oil for March delivery rose 76 cents to settle at $75.28 a barrel, extending Wednesday's 1% gain. Oil prices have climbed 5% this week.
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What's moving the market: Prices rose as European Union leaders reached a deal to help debt-ridden Greece avoid defaulting on its debt, although details were not expected to be finalized until next week.
Reports earlier this week said the German government would lead the effort to offer aid to Greece and other European nations at risk for defaulting, including Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
The European debt crisis has rattled global markets over the last few weeks, with investors putting money into the dollar and government debt. But the sentiment turned more bullish Thursday with stocks rebounding, while bond prices mostly fell.
Oil prices were also supported by a government report that showed the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week.
Looking ahead, traders will take in the government's weekly oil inventory report Friday at 11 a.m ET. The report was scheduled to come out on Wednesday, but was postponed after a snow storm forced many government offices in Washington, D.C. to close this week.
What analysts are saying: Myrto Sokou, an analyst at Sucden Financial Research, said in a research report that oil prices have also been boosted by a recent spate of cold weather in North America.
"The cold temperatures helped the demand for energy products to move higher, as the second wave of snowstorm hit the U.S. within a week with several disruptions," Sokou said. "It looks likely that the weather had a strong impact in energy prices for 2009, and continues to have at the beginning of 2010."
Gasoline prices. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline decreased to $2.636, down 0.5 cent from the previous day's price of $2.641, according to motorist group AAA. 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
| Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
| S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
| Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
| Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
| General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
| Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
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