Oil prices broke through the $70 per-barrel barrier Friday and more forecasters are broadening expectations for an upward swing in crude. Benchmark crude for July delivery lost 22 cents to $68.59 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped as high as $70.32 per barrel, the highest since October, earlier in the day. In London, Brent prices dropped 67 cents to $68.04 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. In other Nymex trading, gasoline for July delivery fell less than a penny to $1.9578 as did heating oil, to $1.7749 a gallon. Natural gas for July delivery rose 4.9 cents to $3.859 per 1,000 cubic feet. Surging energy prices appear to be outpacing an economic recovery for now, and there are concerns that consumers may pull back spending further, especially with retail gasoline nearing the $3 mark. Meanwhile, the dollar leapt against the major currencies Friday, regaining some of its losses from this week as jobs data from the US showed a jump in the unemployment rate but indicated a deceleration in layoffs. Prices of commodities such as oil and gold, hedges against inflation that gain when the dollar rises, tumbled. The 16-nation euro dropped to $1.3963 in late trading Friday from $1.4178 late Thursday, while the British pound fell to $1.5978 from $1.6192. Last week, the euro closed at $1.4132 and the pound was worth $1.6183 in late trading. The euro spiked as high as $1.4337 this week, its highest level this year, while the pound peaked at $1.6661, a nearly eight-month high. In late April, the euro had traded under $1.30, while the pound touched below $1.45. As the dollar gained Friday, gold prices dropped about $20 an ounce, reversing their drive toward $1,000 an ounce.
