Oil prices back above $61 in Asian trade

Crude oil prices rocketed back beyond $61 in Asian trade after falling briefly following the terrorist bombings in London as …

Crude oil prices rocketed back beyond $61 in Asian trade after falling briefly following the terrorist bombings in London as traders resumed their buying binge on the dips.

At 6.20am, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August was at $61.15 a barrel, up 42 cents from its close of $60.73 in New York overnight.

Oil prices retreated from record highs Thursday after a stormy session that started with panic selling sparked by the London bomb blasts and ended with US traders fretting over hurricane weather.

New York's main contract plummeted by as much as $4.08 before finishing 55 cents lower, off a new record high of $62.10.

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Market volatility has been further heightened by the onset of Hurricane Dennis, the year's first Atlantic hurricane, which threatened production platforms in the US Gulf Coast.