NEW YORK, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Crude erased Thursday's gains and slumped more than 3 percent on Friday as government data showed U.S. consumer spending dropped for the first time since April.

    Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 2.87 U.S. dollars, or 3.6 percent, to settle at 77.00 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 4.3 percent this week, the first weekly decline in October.

    According to the Commerce Department, U.S. consumer spending slipped 0.5 percent in September, which was the first decline since April and the largest slump in nine months.

    Hitting by the weak consumer spending data, Wall Street plummeted Friday along with commodities markets, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 270 points in afternoon trading.

    Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar strengthened against most of the major currencies, also exerting downward pressure on the prices of oil.

    In London, Brent Crude for December delivery dropped 2.77 dollars to 75.27 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.