* Brent up slightly, U.S. crude gains over 1 pct in choppy trade
* Brent and U.S. crude head for weekly gain of almost 2 pct
* U.S. rig count dropped by 4 this week -Baker Hughes data
* Wall Street jumps after Yellen remarks, revised Q2 GDP (Updates with market moves after rig count data)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Global crude markets seesawed around break-even on Friday, jumping 2 percent in early trade on a boost from a Wall Street rally before slipping to near the day's lows after the latest drop in the U.S. oil rig count failed to entice oil bulls.
Crude prices were still headed for weekly gains, after optimism in recent days about lower stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude versus builds in U.S. gasoline inventories.
Still, some traders and analysts were pessimistic that oil would continue trading higher in the coming weeks due to mixed outlooks for supply and demand and for the global economy.
"I'm predicting a return to the low $40 levels or even below by next month," said Tariq Zahir, a trader in crude oil spreads at Tyche Advisors in Laurel Hollow, New York.
"As U.S. refinery maintenance kicks into full gear, we're going to start seeing inventory builds instead of draws," Zahir said.
Brent LCOc1 , the global benchmark for oil, was up 27 cents at $48.44 a barrel by 1:51 p.m. EDT (1751 GMT). It had risen almost $1 at the session high, before turning negative at one point.
U.S. crude CLc1 was up 60 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $45.51, in choppy trade.
For the week, both Brent and U.S. crude were up nearly 2 percent.
The latest weekly reading on the U.S. oil rig count from industry firm Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) showed a drop of just 4 rigs, the smallest decline over the past four weeks. A lower U.S. rig count is usually a bullish signal for oil as it suggests potentially lower production in the future.