Oil prices jumped sharply higher in late...
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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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