Oil price recovers from early falls

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after falling earlier in the day as European equities slid and the dollar strengthened, traders said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, rose 64 cents to 78.77 dollars a barrel after falling by a similar amount earlier.

Brent North Sea crude for December climbed 74 cents to 77.29 dollars.

"The moves higher are still very aggressive but they are now running into general drifting lower during periods," said Capital Spreads analyst Simon Denham.

Traders cited a strengthening dollar, which makes dollar-priced crude more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies, for dampening oil demand.

Meanwhile global equity markets slid on Wednesday as sentiment wobbled amid doubts about the prospects of a global recovery from recession and ahead of a US Federal Reserve interest rate decision.

A huge takeover bid by billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway company was not enough to lift stocks into positive territory, analysts said.

Buffett said the acquisition of 77.4 per cent shares in BNSF it does not already own would be Berkshire's biggest acquisition and represents "an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States."