Crude oil holds under $80

Crude oil prices tipped lower Friday morning, dropping under $80 per barrel as equity markets continued to sputter in Asia, Europe and New York. Equity markets dropped 1.3 percent in Hong Kong, 2 percent in Japan and 3.5 percent in Taiwan as an unraveling sell-off went to a third day. Crude oil prices, pressured by debt issues in Europe and a recent report of slower manufacturing in China, are also caught up in the escalating talks of a second global recession. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November delivery West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped to an overnight low of $77.55 per barrel before rebounding to $79.96 in late afternoon trading. Home heating oil prices added 0.92 cents from a recent settlement to $2.8151 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices added 0.57 cents to $2.5301 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices shed 0.8 cents to $3.693 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national price of unleaded gasoline dropped to $3.54 per gallon Friday from Thursday\'s $3.556, AAA said.