London- The price of crude oil came within a whisker of $60 a barrel on Monday, hitting stock markets and initially boosting demand for bonds.

The euro struggled against a backdrop of EU crises and gold moved above $440 an ounce, Reuters reported.

Oil prices soared to a record high of $59.23 a barrel from New York crude, extending last week”s surge, before easing back slightly. New York crude was later at $58.77 a barrel and London Brent was at $58.08.