Frankfurt  - The oil price hit record high for the year Monday, topping 79 dollars a barrel.

Oil climbed to 79.35 dollars in early trading Monday, amid hopes for the current third quarter corporate reporting season and cautious optimism that a pickup in the global economy will help to power energy demand.

In the meantime, the euro continued to edge up toward the key 1.50-dollar mark, rising 0.2 per cent to 1.4929 dollars in early trading Monday.(dpa)