NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil prices remained under pressure early Wednesday, following their biggest daily drop in more than 17 years in the previous session, as traders awaited the latest data on U.S. petroleum supplies due later this morning.
Crude oil for August delivery fell 90 cents to $137.85 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
"With each passing day, we are reading about more car companies cutting back on production, airlines slashing flights, and consumers driving less," said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global, in a research note.
Although energy markets have ignored these factors for several months now, they might get harder to ignore as the pace of demand destruction accelerates, Meir said.
"Consequently, we could see more frequent bouts of selling, such as Tuesday's, and perhaps the start of a long-overdue trading range," he said.
On Tuesday, concerns that slowing economic growth will dampen oil demand triggered a broad sell-off in energy commodities. Crude futures ended at $138.74 a barrel, down 4.4%, or $6.44, the biggest one-day drop in price for a front-month contract since January, 1991.
Earlier Tuesday, crude plunged $9.26, or 6.3%, to an intraday low of $135.92 a barrel. Despite Tuesday's drop, crude is still up 45% this year |
Thread abonnieren
