Oil traded around $66 a barrel on Monday, steadying after an earlier decline which extended last week’s 8.4 percent slide, as the U.S. dollar lost ground and stock markets moved higher.

Oil prices fell by almost 3.5 percent towards $69 a barrel on Monday as further signs of weak fuel demand raised expectations that prices may have raced ahead of the nascent economic recovery.

U.S. crude oil fell over 3 percent to below $70 a barrel on Friday as U.S. equities struggled for traction and raised fears about the economy and a recovery in energy demand.

Oil fell below $66 on Friday, in line with broad falls on global markets after data showing the U.S. economy contracted and consumer spending had declined, with knock-on effects for fuel demand.

Oil prices fell more than 1 percent to $63 a barrel today, Tuesday, as growing uncertainty over an economic recovery spurred investor risk aversion.  A member of U.S. President Barack Obama’s economic advisory panel said the world’s top oil consumer should plan to possibly provide a second round of stimulus funds to prop up the economy, implying that recovery is still far off.

When oil prices moved to over $30 a barrel in the mid 1980s, it was considered a significant event. It also signaled the birth of small ethanol companies in the Midwest. Many of them managed to hang around long enough to get a second wind when Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War pushed oil prices past $40.

Oil rose to $70 a barrel on Monday after Nigeria’s main militant group said it attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil platform, outweighing a fairly bearish report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

When oil prices moved over $30 a barrel in the mid 1980s, it was considered a significant event.  It also signaled the birth of small ethanol companies in the Midwest. Many of them managed to hang around long enough to get a second wind when Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War pushed oil prices pushed past $40.

Oil dropped more than 2 percent to below $68 a barrel on Monday as a stronger dollar and weaker European equities outweighed attacks on the oil industry in top African exporter Nigeria.

Whether it’s heading up or down, the oil market usually asserts itself as the leader of the commodities world.  Having plunged from levels around $130 per barrel this time last year all the way down to the $40s, the market has spent the last couple of months striking to the upside again.