Oil Update: Crude Slumps Below $63

Updated with recent oil futures and stock price information.

What economic recovery? Or, so say investors this morning.

Crude oil futures traded in the $64 range on Tuesday before plummeting into high-$62 territory later in the morning.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery is currently down $1.15 at $62.90 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price on the contract went as low as $62.63 earlier. On Monday, oil dropped for a fourth straight day, settling at $64.05 after shedding $2.68 on the day.

Oil watchers will be fixed on weekly inventory data set to be released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday morning. According to a Platts survey, prognosticators are expecting crude inventories to drop by 3.2 million barrels. Though some may be looking for signs of demand in the numbers, many experts have said for weeks that the underlying fundamentals of the market aren't aligning with the price of crude.

Many of the big oil and energy sector stocks finished Monday in negative territory and continued sliding this morning. Occidental Petroleum(OXY Quote) dropped 2.5% yesterday and was falling another 1.6% this morning. American depositary shares for Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro(PBR Quote) were declining 1.7% after the opening bell. Yesterday, the concern fell 3.3%.

Marathon Oil(MRO Quote) slid 0.8%, or 24 cents, to finish at $28.76 on Monday. This morning, shares were changing hands down 1.7%.

On the other hand, Hess(HES Quote) was tracking in positive territory, up 0.4%, or 18 cents, at $48.80.

On the servicing side, Schlumberger(SLB Quote) dropped 2.1%, or $1.10, to close at $51.45 yesterday. This morning, shares continued slumping, down 2.7%.