Benchmark crude for August delivery fell 75 cents to $62.18 a barrel at midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile exchange after sixth straight day from a peak of $73 last week, in tandem with continued weakness in Asian stock market and a stronger U.S Dollar.

Worries about the state of the global economy and that the recovery won’t be fast enough are causing both the equities and oil markets to tumble’’, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. Shum also said that, oil prices face continuous downward pressure and may drop to below $50 a barrel in the coming weeks as $60 - $70 a barrel for oil is way too expensive given the weak state of oil demand.

The global economic data shows rising unemployment in Europe and America to plunging exports is still grim and most economist think the nearly two – year long recession has not yet bottomed out.