Oil prices dropped sharply Wednesday as fresh signs emerged of recessionary conditions and OPEC cut its forecast for demand.
Light, sweet crude declined by $4.09 to $74.54 a barrel in New York, and Brent crude fell $3.73 to $70.80 a barrel. The near-month crude contract has now fallen nearly 50% from its all-time high, reached in July. Gasoline futures dropped 10 cents to $1.78 a gallon, and heating oil was lower by 7 cents at $2.19 a gallon. The weakness came after OPEC cut its projections for 2008 and 2009 demand, citing the troubles plaguing financial markets and global economies. On a day the stock market fell sharply, energy shares were no exception. Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote), ConocoPhillips (COP Quote) and Chevron (CVX Quote) all had double-digit percentage losses. Valero (VLO Quote) and Tesoro (TSO Quote) fell 20% and 18.6%, respectively. The U.S. Oil (USO Quote) ETF, which tracks crude prices, slid 6.6%.- Loading Comments...
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Calculated Risk
| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,058.64 | 1,070.52 | 2,150.87 | 36.33 |
Oil *
72.02
|
|
UP
150.25
|
UP
13.78
|
UP
24.82
|
UP
0.41
|
10 Yr
3.63%
SPDR Gold
105.45
|
|
+1.52%
|
+1.30%
|
+1.17%
|
+1.14%
|
Data delayed 20 minutes |
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