A relentless slide in crude prices put energy stocks and currencies exposed to oil exports under pressure on Friday, dampening appetite for riskier assets and underpinning flows into the safety of core government bonds. Brent crude dropped to a 5-1/2-year low of $63 a barrel and was set for a weekly loss of more than 8 percent. Falling oil prices have sparked weakness in U.S. high yield markets and pushed up volatility across asset classes. The STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas Index fell nearly 1 percent in early trade, dragging down the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index to 1,347.45 points. The euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index declined by 0.8 percent to 3,133.36 points with political concerns over Greece also hurting European stocks. Currencies strongly linked to oil export revenues like the Canadian dollar slumped to a 5-1/2 year trough against the dollar, while the […]