Oil Advances, Gaining With Equities as Bank Shares Rally

Oil climbed from an eight-month low as U.S. equities rallied after Moody’s Investors Service’s downgrade of 15 global banks was less severe than threatened.

Crude advanced 2 percent as financial shares gained and the European Central Bank said it will relax some rules on bank collateral. Prices also gained as Gulf of Mexico platforms began evacuations on the growing threat of a tropical storm. Futures fell 5.1 percent this week as manufacturing slumped in the U.S., China and Europe and American supplies rose to a 22-year high.