Crude Sinks as Emerging-Market Tumult Leads to Risk-Off Mood - Bloomberg

Crude Sinks as Emerging-Market Tumult Leads to Risk-Off Mood - Bloomberg:

Crude plunged to a two-week low as emerging-market stocks tumbled to the edge of bear market territory.

Futures in New York slid 1.4 percent on Thursday. Emerging-market stocks extended losses from a January peak to 20 percent, the threshold of a bear market. Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration reported rising fuel stockpiles across the U.S. at the same time as supplies at the nation’s largest crude distribution hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, also expanded last week.

“Bear market territory or not, there is some weakness there,” said Brian Kessens, who helps manage $16 billion in energy assets at Tortoise. Investors are focusing on “what that might mean in the future for global oil demand. It’s just a risk-off day.”