Crude Oil Hovers Above $81

Update includes the latest oil price and new stock quotes.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Oil was trading higher by 15 cents to $81.34 a barrel on Friday, a day after China reported strong growth in its economy and stocks on Wall Street rose on the back of solid earnings reports.

Crude oil for December rose to as high as $81.78 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract settled 18 cents higher on Thursday to $81.19.

China's economy, the world's third largest, expanded 8.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, speeding up from 7.9% growth in the second quarter. The growth was spurred by massive government stimulus spending on large infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, stocks in the U.S. rose Thursday as investors greeted a wave of positive earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% to finish at 10,081.31. It got help from Travelers, which rose 7.7% after topping earnings estimates and raising guidance.

After the closing bell Thursday, Amazon posted a 69% increase in third-quarter profit.

On Friday, Schlumberger reported earnings and revenue declines in the third -quarter from the year-ago period, though CEO Andrew Gould also added that the worst may be behind the company.

Thursday also finished positive for several major oil equities, with Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ADRs for BP each adding 1.5%, 0.4% and 0.4%, respectively.

ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil tracked lower, slipping 0.1% and 0.4%, each.

Oil rose to above $82 a barrel earlier this week, a high for the year.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel and Sung Moss in New York