LONDON - World oil prices rose on Monday as traders snapped up cheaper crude after the market had slumped last week, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, gained 23 cents to 72.37 dollars per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude, also for August delivery, climbed 41 cents to 72.06 dollars a barrel in late morning deals.

Volumes were thin, with US financial markets closed on Monday for the Independence Day public holiday in the United States.

Traders invested in cheap crude following last week's plunge in prices, said Serene Lim, a Singapore-based oil and gas analyst with Australia's ANZ bank.

"I think because oil prices have already been falling so much, there would be a rebound as longer-term investors buy into the market," she said.

She added that the rise was also "due to a consolidation of oil prices at 72 to 73 dollars".
Oil prices had tumbled by more than eight percent last week as weak economic data out of the United States sparked fears about the strength of the global recovery.

The US economy shed 125,000 jobs in June, official data showed. Most analysts had expected a loss of 100,000 jobs.

"Crude prices finished the week lower on Friday, as disappointing employment data in the US continued to weigh on sentiment regarding the strength of the economic recovery in America," said Westhouse Securities analyst David Hart.

The market was also slammed last week by mounting concern about an economic slowdown in Asian powerhouse China.

The United States and China are the first and second biggest consumers of energy in the world.

China said on Friday that its red-hot economy had expanded by 9.1 percent in 2009, upwardly revised from an earlier figure of 8.7 percent.

But the revision comes ahead of second-quarter data due this month that is expected to show the world's second-biggest energy consumer slowed in the three months to June.