Oil tumbles 4% to April lows on China woes
Investing.com — “No, not again!” — the Saudis must be thinking.
But that’s exactly what it was as crude prices hit April lows on Tuesday, plunging to $70 territory, as disappointing trade data from China raised fresh concerns about the economic health of the world’s largest crude importer.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude for December delivery, settled at $77.37 per barrel, down $3.45, or 4.3% on the day. The session low for the US crude benchmark was $77.28
As WTI settled, UK-origin Brent crude’s most-active January contract was at $81.67, down $3.51, or 4.1%, by 14:30 Eastern US Time (19:00 Greenwich Mean Time).
The US crude benchmark’s 4% drop since the start of November adds to October’s torrid 11% loss.
For Brent, this month’s 3% drop comes on top of the previous month’s 11% plunge.
Oil’s correction came as the market unwinds all of the war risk premium from the Israel-Hamas war and defied pledges of supply cuts through the year-end by OPEC+ heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia to keep prices up.
“That we're seeing data that confirms economies are struggling under the pressure of high interest rates which are not expected to decline soon may also have contributed to oil reversing its gains,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at online trading platform OANDA.
“It's no surprise then that Saudi Arabia and Russia remain committed to their end-of-year cuts, it's just a question of whether they will be extended. That they haven't already perhaps suggests there's some reluctance too, which may also be weighing on prices a little
Data released on Tuesday showed that China's exports shrank more than expected in October, while the country's trade surplus was at its worst level in 17 months.
Imports unexpectedly
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