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LONDON - Oil prices hit a record high of above US$126 on Friday, driven by speculative interest amid concerns about tight global energy supplies, analysts said.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, spiked as high as US$126.20 in mid-afternoon London trading hours.
Over in New York, US stocks slid sharply in opening trade Friday after the spike in oil prices and as insurance giant AIG reported a deeper than expected quarterly loss.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 117 points (0.91 percent) to 12,749.78 in the first two minutes of trade and the tech-dominant Nasdaq Composite dropped 19.43 points (0.79 percent) to 2,431.81.
The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.85 points (0.63 percent) to 1,388.83. - AFP/ir
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