Oil prices dive to lowest in over a year as virus fears grow - Reuters

Oil prices dive to lowest in over a year as virus fears grow - Reuters:

Oil prices fell for a fifth straight day on Thursday, plunging to their lowest levels since January 2019 as more new coronavirus cases outside China fanned fears that a pandemic could slow the global economy.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down $1.81, or 3.4%, at $51.61 a barrel at 11:51 a.m. ET (1651 GMT), off the session low of $50.97 a barrel, the lowest since December 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 fell by $2.06, or 4.2%, to $46.66, after hitting their lowest since January 2019.

For the first time since the outbreak erupted, the number of new coronavirus infections outside China exceeded new Chinese cases. Trading in oil markets suggested investors expect a prolonged period of oversupply, with demand hit as the virus spreads to large economies including South Korea, Japan and Italy.

“Oil is in freefall as the magnitude of global quarantine efforts will provide severe demand destruction for the next couple of quarters,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York.