LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices hit multi-month highs on Monday, driven by soaring world stock markets and a weaker dollar ahead of the announcement of a new US govt banking plan, analysts said. London's Brent North Sea crude for May jumped as high as 52.20 dollars a barrel, which was last seen in early January. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, bounced as high as $52.90, the highest point since late Nov. In later trade, Brent oil stood at 51.36 dollars a barrel, up 14 cents from Friday's close, and New York crude was a marginal two cents higher at 52.09 dollars. Global stock markets roared higher on Monday as investor optimism grew ahead of the official launch of a 500-billion-dollar (366-billion-euro) US government plan to purge banks of toxic assets. "Right now, the crude oil market is primarily driven by the financial markets. What we are seeing in the crude oil market is a financial rally," said Victor Shum of energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will Monday announce plans to create a government body to relieve bank balance sheets of the troubled assets that lie at the heart of the global financial crisis. "Key markets' focus today is an expected announcement on US plans to remove toxic assets from banks' balance sheets and get more investor involvement," said Sucden analyst Brenda Sullivan. "The details of this plan may be key for the market's views on the dollar and on economic recovery, and so impacting price views of crude oil and other commodities." In the foreign exchange market on Monday, the dollar sank against the euro as the US plan helped rekindle investor risk appetite, dealers said. A falling greenback traditionally boosts demand for dollar-priced crude oil because it becomes cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies. Last week, oil prices had bounced above 52 dollars a barrel after the US Federal Reserve launched plans to pump another 1.15 trillion dollars into the financial system in a stepped-up effort to spark recovery. The global economic downturn, which began in the United States last year, has ravaged energy demand and slashed world oil prices from their record peaks of above 147 dollars a barrel reached in July 2008. In a bid to boost prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40 percent of world crude, has slashed a combined 4.2 million barrels a day since September. However, the 12-nation cartel left output unchanged at a key meeting in Vienna earlier this month, blaming the global slowdown for the decision.