SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices fell to near an 18-month low of $60 a barrel today in Asia as optimism waned that a huge Chinese spending plan will avert a prolonged slowdown in the global economy.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery was down $1.84 to $60.57 a barrel, after falling as low as $60.29, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract overnight rose $1.37 to settle at $62.41.

Oil closed at $60.77 on Nov. 6, the lowest price since March 2007, and has fallen about 59 percent since reaching a record $147.27 in mid-July.

Most Asian stock markets fell today, following the lead of the Dow Jones industrials average, which dropped 0.8 percent Monday.