Crude tumbles 4% as U.S. consumer sentiment falls

Oil futures tumbled to end below $68 a barrel on Friday as falling U.S. consumer sentiment dashed hopes of a swift economic recovery and put energy prices under heavy selling pressure.

Traders booked profits and bet that the current level of oil prices, which are up more than 50% this year, is not justified by fundamentals.

Light sweet crude for September delivery fell $3.01, or 4.3%, to end at $67.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract hit an intraday low of $67.12 a barrel on Globex.

Oil prices posted a weekly decline of $3.42, or 4.8%, from last Friday's closing level of $70.93.

"Oil is lower with the stock market today and the catalyst is the consumer sentiment [data]," said James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based Liberty Trading Group. "If consumer sentiment is waning, consumer spending is going to do the same." (more)