World oil prices continued their daily record-breaking run on Thursday, reaching a fresh intraday peak near $124 dollars a barrel despite a larger-than-expected rise in U.S. crude stocks. The record of $123.87 reached by New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, slightly exceeded the old intraday high of $123.80 reached on Wednesday at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract later traded six cents lower at $123.47 a barrel in Asia from its record close of $123.53 in New York. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery was seven cents lower at $122.25 a barrel. In London on Wednesday the contract touched an all-time peak of $122.70, before settling up $2.01 dollars at $122.32. Oil prices crashed through records every day this week, jumping at least $7.00. Some economists fear that surging oil prices could crimp U.S. economic growth, and Wall Street tumbled on Wednesday after the latest spike in oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue chips closed down 1.59 percent while the technology-laden Nasdaq composite finished down 1.80 percent. Oil prices continued their gains despite a weekly survey by the US government showing that the country's crude stocks rose by 5.7 million barrels to 325.6 million barrels for the week ended May 2.