LONDON (AP) — Oil prices sank below $68 a barrel Tuesday on the back of declining share prices and fears of weaker global economic growth.

Benchmark crude for July delivery shed $2.36 to $67.85 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday the contract advanced 17 cents to settle at $70.21.

Oil prices tend to rise or fall along with global shares, which indicate investors’ outlook on the economy and its growth potential. Stronger growth usually means more demand for crude and higher prices.

“Concerns about the pace and recovery of the global economy remain one of the critical factors behind the pressure,” JBC Energy Markets said in a note to investors.

Austerity measures announced across Europe to deal with excessive levels of government debt are undermining investors’ confidence that the continent will remain a signicant source of energy demand.

But oil has not fallen as dramatically as global stock markets this week, which prompted some analysts to view this as a potential trend.

“Prices looked resilient and seemed to be standing on their own,” energy research firm Cameron Hanover said in a morning note.

“Still, we will need to see what the next few days and this weeks reports have to contribute, here.”

In Europe, major indexes were down from 2.5 percent to over 4 percent on fears of a prolonged EU financial crisis steming from government debt, while Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn on Tuesday offered a bleak outlook for the region’s economic growth and jobless rate.

In Asia, markets were rattled by reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered his military to be on combat alert amid rising tensions on the peninsula.

Oil has plummeted 22 percent from $87.15 a barrel earlier this month as a falling euro made dollar-based crude more expensive for investors holding the European currency.

All major Asian stock markets fell Tuesday, following a 1.2 percent pullback in the Dow Jones industrial average Monday. The euro was nearly 2 cents lower early afternoon in London at $1.2193.

In other Nymex trading in June contracts, heating oil fell 5 cents to $1.849 a gallon, and gasoline dropped 5 cents to $1.919 a gallon. Natural gas shed 0.5 cent down to $4.012 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, the Brent crude July contact was down $2.19 to $68.95 on the ICE futures exchange.

AP Business Writer Alex Kennedy contributed to this report from Singapore.

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