LONDON, (Reuters) – Brent crude rose and U.S. crude trimmed earlier losses on Friday, boosted by better-than-expected readings of U.S. consumer sentiment and gains in equity markets.

Brent crude for November gained $1.48 to $113.78 a barrel by 1405 GMT. In choppy trading, Brent turned briefly negative, before recouping those losses.

U.S. crude was 21 cents lower at $89.19 a barrel. The November Brent contract and prompt U.S. crude have risen about 2 percent so far this week.

“There is a pricing in of liquidity after the central banks moves and Wall Street opening higher after futures indicated a lower open and the dollar index paring its gains has helped U.S. crude bounce from its lows,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.

Wall Street also opened higher after the fourth day rally in FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares..EU.N

World share prices rose over half a percent to one-week highs on hopes that European policymakers might at last come up with measures to combat a deepening debt crisis.

Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers’ preliminary September consumer sentiment rose to 57.8 from 55.7 in the final August report.

Economists in a Reuters survey expected a preliminary September sentiment reading of 56.5.

Earlier in the day, markets were supported as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged euro zone ministers to leverage their 440 billion euro bailout fund and free more resources to tackle the debt crisis during a meeting on Friday, a senior euro zone official said.

NORTH SEA DELAYS

North Sea Forties crude, one of the key crude oil streams used to price about two thirds of global physical oil, has been suffering from production problems and loading delays since May, supporting Brent crude futures.

Shipments of Forties crude oil are being further delayed due to production shortfalls, trade sources said on Thursday.

But some analysts said any gains were likely to be short lived as the European debt problems were deep rooted, keeping oil demand in most developed countries weak.

“The actions taken yesterday were just an electric shock to keep the patient alive – we still have serious debt problems in Europe,” said Thorbjrn Bak Jensen, oil analyst with Global Risk Management.

The economic weakness is now being reflected in U.S. oil demand readings. The nation’s total fuel consumption over the past four weeks fell 0.9 percent from a year earlier, while gasoline use over the summer declined to an eight-year low, according to the Energy Information Administration.