'Oil settles at record high above $140Crude prices jump as the Dow enters bear territory, but drift from daily highs towards end of session in anticipation that trading next week will be light.
By Ben Rooney and David Goldman, CNN Money.com staff writers
Last Updated: June 27, 2008: 3:22 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices settled above $140 a barrel for the first time Friday during a thinly traded session on Friday as a selloff on Wall Street sent the Dow into bear market territory.
Also enflaming crude prices: expectations that the dollar will remain weak and continuing concerns about global supply disruptions.
Light, sweet crude rose 57 cents to settle at $140.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The August contract reached an all-time high of $142.99 in the afternoon, but sold off towards the end of the day as traders anticipated light volume next week.
"With people out of the markets for July 4th, traders sold off towards the end of the session to play the market safe for next week," said Peter Beutel, an oil analyst with Cameron Hanover.
The oil market's early rally came as the stock market stumbled with the Dow dropping more than 150 points before recovering slightly Friday afternoon.
"The lack of confidence in financial markets is pushing investors back into the hard-asset class," said John Kilduff, an energy analyst at MF Global in New York.
Stocks have been battered in recent sessions partly because of rising oil prices but also due to fresh signs of weakness in the broader economy.
Many investors view oil and other commodities as a safe haven in times of financial turmoil.
Currency issues: Many analysts say the dollar's decline has been a major driver of oil prices, which have more than doubled in the last year.'
Lees verder: http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/27/markets/oil/index.htm
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