Light oil price trading down at $77 on US market crash

Light oil prices are trading down to the $77 mark on Friday as the US stock market crashed lower, the Dow Jones fell by the largest number of points in its history and stoked panic across fragile financial markets.

US Light crude oil futures for June was at $77.31 a barrel by 03.08 GMT Friday, largely on the back of the softer US dollar and on bargain hunting. The contract has fallen more than 10% this week, its worst week since the start of 2009.

The Dow went into a sudden freefall a little over an hour before the close of trading in New York yesterday and the result was a period of unprecedented chaos that also dragged in commodity, currency and credit markets.

Fears are running high in the financial markets that the Greek government will not be able to implement austerity measures that would enable it to contain its debt problems. And, in turn, that the country’s problems will hurt other economies in Europe, including Britain and even the US.

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