Oil hits record over $111 a barrel as dollar slumps

Oil jumped to a record above $111 a barrel on Monday, as a surprise weekend cut in the Federal Reserve discount rate and the fire sale of stricken U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns (BSC.N) sent the dollar to all-time lows.

Crude for April delivery was up 95 cents at $111.16 a barrel by 10:35 p.m. EDT, after hitting $111.42 earlier. May London Brent crude was 55 cents higher at $106.75 a barrel.

“The recent oil prices have been swayed by the currency moves, including this latest rally to a record,” said Tony Nunan, risk management executive at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi. “The dollar weakness is the factor at the moment.”

The dollar tumbled below 96 yen on Monday to a 13-year low, while the euro surged more than 1 percent to a record above $1.59 after JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) said it would acquire Bear Stearns for a fraction of its book value.

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