* Oil hits record near $143 as global equities slump
* U.S. lawmakers urge CFTC to investigate market behavior
* Deutsche sees rally continuing to $150
(Updates prices)
NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose to a record near $143 a
barrel on Friday as a drop in global equities markets sent fresh investors
into commodities.
U.S. crude <CLc1> was up $3.11 at $142.75 a barrel by 1:04 p.m. EDT
(1704 GMT) after touching a record high of $142.93 earlier. London Brent
crude <LCOc1> was $2.91 higher at $142.74 a barrel, after hitting a peak of
$142.91.
Global stocks slumped to three-month lows on concerns about the outlook
for corporate profits and inflation, putting the Dow Jones industrial
average <> on the verge of entering a bear market for the first time
since 2001.
"The renewed attraction of commodities as an investment vehicle is
contrasting with the unattractiveness of the stock market," analysts
Ritterbusch and Associates said in a research note. "As additional traders
abandon the stock market, the appeal of commodities as a trading vehicle is
enhanced."
Oil prices have jumped more than 45 percent this year, extending a
six-year rally, as supply struggles to keep pace with rising demand from
emerging economies, such as China and India.
Additional support has come from a flood of cash from new investors
buying up commodities to hedge against inflation and the weak U.S. dollar,
which fell further on Friday. []
Gold hit a one-month record high [], while U.S. corn futures jumped
to a fresh record. []
Rising fuel costs have stirred protests around the globe, prompting
some U.S. politicians to call for a reduction in the amount of speculation
allowed in the oil market.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that
directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use all its authority
to curb speculation in energy futures markets. []
Oil rose more than $5 on Thursday after Libya said it was studying
possible options to cut output in response to potential U.S. actions
against members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Some experts insist supply and demand are behind oil's record rise,
while others, including OPEC, say rising flows of speculative cash are
behind this year's gains.
"We believe the factors driving oil prices higher are fundamental and
not speculative," Deutsche Bank said in a research note. "Oil needs to rise
to $150 a barrel for oil as a share of global GDP to reach the levels that
occurred in the early 1980s."
"At that point, we will start to see more signs of demand destruction
and an eventual tipping point in oil markets."
An oil price poll by Reuters showed analysts' expectations that oil
will rise for the foreseeable future.
The poll showed U.S. crude in 2008 would average $113.24 a barrel, up
by about $6 from the last poll in May. []
(Reporting by Matthew Robinson, Robert Campbell, Robert Gibbons and
Gene Ramos in New York; Jane Merriman in London; Fayen Wong in Perth;
Editing by John Picinich)
