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Oil drops below $100
 LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in two weeks, extending a hefty sell-off in the previous session on growing concerns an economic slowdown in top consumer the United States would undermine global energy demand.U.S. crude was down $3.00 to $99.54 barrel by 1302 GMT, and the first time since March 5 that it has fallen below $100, adding to an almost $5 loss on Wednesday. London Brent crude fell $2.42 to $98.31 by 1305 GMT. "We continue to see profit-taking among commodities. There are also macro-economic concerns about the economy and the dollar has been doing better," said Mike Wittner, global head of oil market research in London for Societe Generale. Gold dropped more than 4 percent to a one-month low Thursday, while platinum slid more than 5 percent to $1,820 an ounce, the lowest since early February as funds cashed in. Weekly U.S. stocks data released on Wednesday showed lower fuel stocks than forecast, but the figures also revealed a fall in demand. U.S. demand for gasoline over the past four weeks was 0.1 percent below last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration figures showed. Posted by: Steve White 2008-03-21 |
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