Oil prices settled down more than 2 percent at about $76 a barrel on Friday as fears of possible defaults in Dubai convulsed financial markets and boosted safe-haven demand for the U.S. dollar.

U.S. crude for January delivery fell $1.91 to $76.05 a barrel, 2.5 percent below Wednesday's settlement.

U.S. markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

London Brent crude rose 19 cents to $77.18 from Thursday's settlement price.

Crude oil markets have looked to wider macro-economic data and equities markets for signs of an economic recovery that could lift oil demand.

Dubai has asked for a debt standstill on tens of billions of dollars as part of a restructuring, sparking debt default fears that could hit other parts of the global economy and derail a fledgling recovery from 2008's financial crisis.

This is a similar reaction to last year's Lehman Brothers debacle, it shakes confidence in financial markets and raises the specter of contagion which could trigger a second wave in the credit crisis, Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president at MF Global in New York, said in a Friday research note.

Major U.S. indexes dropped after markets opened on Friday, the NASDAQ <.IXIC> falling 1.73 percent and the S&P 500 down 19.14 points, or 1.72 percent to 1.091.49. Investors began seeking refuge in government bonds.

For a graphic on risk assets hit by Dubai debt fears, click on:

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The U.S. dollar also pressured oil prices as concerns about the possibility of a debt default in Dubai boosted safe-haven demand for the greenback.

A stronger dollar weighs on demand for commodities such as oil that are denominated in the U.S. currency.

In earlier trading, crude sank as low as $72.39 a barrel, but recovered slightly after Wall Street tempered its losses.

The dollar pared its gain and the stock market its losses so crude did also, said Mark Waggoner, president at Excel Futures Inc in Huntington Beach, California.

Oil prices have fallen nearly 10 percent since striking a year high of $82 early last month, as lackluster economic data and bulging fuel inventories in the United States combine to dent hopes of a swift recovery in energy demand.

Traders said thin volumes on Thursday and Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday could also be exaggerating Friday's oil price move.

The New York Mercantile Exchange will have a shortened floor trading session on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons in New York, Chris Baldwin in London, and Fayen Wong in Perth; editing by Marguerita Choy)

Thanksgiving Dubai