NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices climbed Tuesday on expectations of a slower, but still growing, global economy.

Benchmark crude rose $1.87, or 2.2 percent, to $88.25 per barrel in afternoon trading in New York. Brent crude, used to price many international kinds of oil, rose 62 cents to $110.78 a barrel in London.

Oil fell early in the day after China said its surging economy cooled slightly in the last quarter. But prices rebounded by midday, following a broad rally on Wall Street, where major indexes were up about 1 percent at midday.

Analysts pointed out that even though China's economy slowed a little from July to September, its 9.1 percent growth rate was still red hot when compared with the West. China is the second biggest oil consumer in the world after the U.S.

Meanwhile a U.S. trade group said homebuilders are less pessimistic about the struggling housing market. The National Association of Home Builders reading wasn't high enough to signal a recovery, but it was still good news for the beleaguered housing industry.

In Libya rebels strengthened their control of the country. That raised expectations that Libya soon will be able to supply oil to world markets again.

That would lower oil prices as supplies increase, but some think it will be a while before Libyan oil returns. "We're still waiting for those exports," independent oil analyst Andrew Lipow said. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Libya's 1.5 million barrels of daily oil exports were shut down when fighting spread across the country in February. The loss of Libyan oil helped drive benchmark prices to three-year highs by April.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose less than a penny to $3.0191 per gallon, while gasoline futures lost a penny at $2.7376 per gallon. Natural gas fell 9.6 cents to $3.590 per 1,000 cubic feet.