AFP, New York :
Oil prices fell Friday, dragged down by a stronger dollar after the Bank of Japan’s unexpected massive stimulus action that touched off a strong global equities rally.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for December delivery shed 58 cents to close at $80.54 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December settled at $85.86 a barrel in London, down 38 cents from Thursday’s closing level.
The BoJ took markets by surprise Friday, announcing it would add up to 20 trillion yen ($182 billion) to its current asset-buying scheme, bringing it to 80 trillion yen annually in a bid to stimulate growth.
The dollar rose sharply against the yen after the BoJ move, and also against the euro.
The stronger dollar makes dollar-priced oil more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies.
Crude’s fall has followed the dollar’s rise since Wednesday when the US Federal Reserve ended its own huge bond-buying program, gauging the US economy was doing well enough to do without the stimulus.
A better-than-expected US economic growth report for the third quarter Thursday, with expansion at 3.5 percent, also added to the dollar bullishness and weaker oil prices.
