By Grant Smith Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil tumbled to a six-week low as Dubai’s attempt to reschedule its debt prompted investors to sell commodities. Oil dipped below $73 in New York as the dollar jumped, dulling the appeal of crude as a currency hedge, and equities fell. Dubai World, the government investment company burdened by $59 billion of liabilities, sought to delay repayments, raising concern worsening defaults may hold back the global recovery. “It’s the Dubai surprise,” said Thina Saltvedt, a commodities analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo. “It’s the flight to safety on all the uncertainty over the turmoil in Dubai. Until we get more information we’ll probably see a sell-off in risky assets.” Brent crude oil for January settlement fell $1.79, or 2.3 percent, to $75.20 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 11:34 a.m. local time. Earlier, the contract plunged as much as 4.3 percent to $73.70, the lowest intraday price since Oct. 15. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, where markets didn’t settle yesterday because of a public holiday, January U.S. crude futures were trading at $73.99 a barrel, down 5.1 percent from the closing price on Nov. 25. Oil is heading for a 3.2 percent loss this week after the Energy Department reported on Nov. 25 that crude stockpiles rose 1.02 million barrels to a four-week high of 337.8 million barrels. U.S. distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil and diesel, were 26 percent above the five-year average, according to the department. The U.S. currency traded at $1.49 per euro at 9:31 a.m. in London, from $1.5019 yesterday. Gold fell for a second day, dropping as much as 4.2 percent to $1,138.10 an ounce. Emerging-market stocks fell for a second day, Treasuries jumped and credit default swaps surged. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index of 22 developing countries dropped 2.6 percent at 10:11 a.m. in London, the most since Oct. 28. To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net;

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