Oil falls, rally ends as U.S. sees resurgence of coronavirus infections - Reuters

Oil falls, rally ends as U.S. sees resurgence of coronavirus infections - Reuters:

Oil prices fell on Friday, extending big losses from overnight as U.S. coronavirus cases surged this week and raised the prospect of a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak hitting demand in the world’s top consumer of crude and fuel.

Brent LCOc1 was down $1.34, or 3.5%, at $37.21 a barrel by 0701 GMT, having dropped nearly 8% in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 was down $1.37 cents, or 3.8%, at $34.97 a barrel, after slumping more than 8% on Thursday.

The reality that the coronavirus pandemic may be far from over has brought the rally that raised oil off April lows to a shuddering halt, with infections in the United States alone passing 2 million.

The oil benchmarks are heading for their first weekly declines in seven, with Brent and U.S. crude both down more than around 12% as rising stockpiles also drag on prices.