High oil prices weighed on investor sentiment across financial markets today as the price of crude lifted to a record high above $47 a barrel.
European shares slipped and demand for government bonds rose as pricey oil kept up concerns on those markets about the sustainability of world economic and corporate-profit growth. The dollar firmed slightly.
Wall Street looked set to open lower.
"If oil keeps going to $50 (a barrel) you are definitely going to have a problem with the market," said Mr Barry Ritholtz, chief market strategist at the Maxim Group.
Sentiment was also likely to be hurt by Google, which cut the price range on its IPO to $85-$95 per share from $108-$135 previously.
US light crude rose to $47.04, a new high in the 21-year history of the New York Mercantile Exchange contract. London Brent was up 6 cents at $43.05 a barrel.
Investors have become increasingly worried about the impact of oil prices as US oil has set all-time highs in all but one of the previous 13 trading sessions. It is nearly $10 a barrel or 26 per cent dearer than at the end of June.
European shares were weakened today by both the oil price and lower-than-expected profits from foods group Nestle.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips fell 0.46 per cent and the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 0.38 per cent.
The dollar hovered near multi-week lows as investors questioned whether the US central bank would raise interest rates next month in the light of weak economic data.
It slipped to a four-week low against the euro in New York trade and hit a three-week low against the yen in Asia. But trading ranges were small and the greenback recovered to stand up 0.13 per cent at 109.99 yen. The euro was down 0.23 per cent at $1.2323.