Oil falls below $77 ahead of US data
Weekly inventory likely to show 1.5m-barrel build in crude stockpiles
London: Oil fell more than $1 per barrel to below $77 Tuesday as stock markets slipped in Europe and Asia and the dollar rose against a basket of currencies.
European shares fell around two per cent to a one-month low Tuesday, with banks suffering after poor results from UBS and as news of a shake-up in the UK banking sector made investors wary of risky assets.
The dollar index rose 0.6 per cent as the euro hit a four-week low.
Oil often weakens when the dollar rises, partly because crude is priced internationally in the US currency. The dollar is also widely seen as a gauge of risk appetite, rising when investors seek safe havens and move away from more volatile assets such as oil.
US crude for December tumbled $1.58 per barrel to a low of $76.55 after hitting an early high of $78.46 and settling up $1.13 on Monday.
London Brent crude futures dropped $1.00 to $75.55 a barrel.
