Oil prices slipped in light trading this evening as Europe's debt crisis pushed the euro to a two-month low against the dollar and investors eyed tensions between North Korea and South Korea.
US crude fell 47 cents to $83.39 a barrel, well above an earlier $82.78 low. In London, Brent fell 81 cents to $85.29 a barrel.
A stronger dollar makes dollar-priced crude more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies which in turn tends to hit demand and prices.
World financial markets have been rocked this week by euro zone debt worries and North Korea's firing of dozens of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing four people and triggering an exchange of fire.
Today, traders also worried about the impact of Chinese attempts to curb rising inflation. Inflation pressures are growing in commodities-hungry China, a senior central bank official said this week, stoked by of flows of capital into the country and expectations of a revaluation of the yuan.
