Oil Falls $3 to Below $70 a Barrel

Oil fell $3 a barrel Monday to close below $70 as the dollar strengthened and China’s stock market fell 7%, Bloomberg reported.

Benchmark light sweet crude futures closed below the $70 level for the first time since Aug. 18 on the New York Mercantile Exchange trading, down from Friday’s closing price of $72.74, Bloomberg reported.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 7% Monday and has fallen 23% since hitting a 15-month high Aug. 4, Bloomberg said, raising concerns about economic recovery.

The Department of Energy is releasing its weekly survey of diesel and gasoline pump prices Monday afternoon in Washington.