Reply #9: Oil prices fall below $77 a barrel

[ozymandius]

SINGAPORE - Oil prices fell Monday as traders took profits after crude futures settled near an all-time high in the previous session.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery lost 46 cents to $76.72 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, mid-afternoon in Singapore.

The contract rose $2.07 to settle at $77.02 a barrel Friday, on technical buying and news of faster-than-expected economic growth in the United States. The highest-ever settlement price for a front-month contract was $77.03 a barrel, set July 14, 2006. Last July, Nymex crude hit an all-time intraday trading high of $78.40 a barrel.

A U.S. Commerce Department report on Friday showed the U.S. economy grew by 3.4 percent in the second quarter, removing some of the concerns about economic growth that sent oil prices down Thursday in sympathy with Wall Street's plunge.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices