NEW YORK: Oil prices continued to set new post-recession highs Monday as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi pounded rebels near a key oil port in Libya. It's unclear how long the country's oil exports will be cut off, and traders prepared for a worst-case scenario in which world supplies would be under pressure for months. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery gained $1.02 to settle at $105.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price almost hit $107 per barrel earlier in electronic trading, the highest level since Sept. 26, 2008. In London, Brent crude fell 93 cents to settle at $115.04 per barrel. The prospects of further unrest in Middle Eastern countries drove investors to seek safe-haven assets. Gold spot prices hit a record high of $1,444.40 an ounce while silver rose as high as $36.52 an ounce, its highest since early 1980. “If we do see tension escalating further, then we could witness a new high in gold,” said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. US Treasury debt prices also rose on a safe-haven bid as stocks fell. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 57.94 points, or 0.48 percent, to 12,111.94, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 9.46 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,311.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 42.34 points, or 1.52 percent, to 2,742.33. London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares dipping 0.28 percent to 5,973.78 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 dropped 0.74 percent to 3,990.41 points, dipping under 4,000 for the first time since January, while in Frankfurt the DAX fell 0.24 percent to 7,161.93 points.
