Oil moves higher to trim year-end losses

New York-traded crude-oil futures managed to recoup some losses in electronic trade early Friday, though rival Brent North Sea crude saw only a modest gain.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude futures for February CLG5, +1.11%   improved by 58 cents, or 1.1%, to $53.85 a barrel on Globex, trimming its 1.6% drop in the previous New York Mercantile Exchange session Wednesday.

But London-traded February Brent crude LCOG5, +0.42%   rose a slimmer 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $57.46 a barrel, after having lost 1.8% on Wednesday.