Oil prices rose Thursday, as many traders closed out their bearish bets ahead of a shortened trading session before the Christmas holiday. For February delivery, light, sweet crude futures gained 1.6% to settle at $38.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The global benchmark Brent closed at $37.89 a barrel, up 1.4%, on London’s ICE Futures exchange. “It’s a short-covering rally,” said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures in Bend, Ore. “There’re a lot of people just getting out of the markets because of the fact that it’s the holidays. They don’t want to watch the markets—[they’re] getting out and unplugging for a few days—and they probably will get back in after the holidays.” Crude has found some support this week, up a total 5.7% for four consecutive sessions, snapping a three-week losing streak and posting the largest weekly percentage gain since the week ended Oct. 9. […]