London: Oil prices sank Saturday, mirroring losses on global stock markets, after surging the previous day on news that the United States had emerged from recession.

New York s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, slid USD 1.76 to USD 78.11 a barrel.

London s Brent North Sea crude for December dived USD 1.66 to USD 76.38 per barrel.

"Crude prices slid back amid profit-taking, following impressive gains on the back of positive US data, as concerns over poor fundamentals (of supply and demand) continue to linger," said analysts at the Sucden brokerage in London.

Wall Street sank today as the market digested a sharp rally the day before on news of stronger-than-expected economic growth in the third quarter.

Many analysts noted that the GDP expansion was mainly due to exceptional government measures to stimulate growth that would eventually expire.

Markets were also rattled today after the US Commerce Department reported that consumer spending dropped 0.5 per cent in September.

Yesterday, oil rebounded sharply as traders welcomed news that the US returned to economic growth in the third quarter after a year of contraction.

The US has now followed France, Germany and Japan in shaking off recession after the worst global economic downturn since the 1930s.

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