US woes send oil prices tumbling

Vienna: More bad economic news from the US sent oil prices tumbling yesterday, with a barrel of crude briefly fetching less than $37 (Dh135.8) in thin Christmas Eve trading.

Expectations of further buildups in US stocks also kept a low ceiling on prices. After dipping as low as $36.63, light, sweet crude for February delivery recovered slightly but was still down $1.87 at $37.11 a barrel by afternoon in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A steady stream of dismal US data during the past few months has hammered investor confidence.