Commodities: Recession fears sink oil
Oil prices fell again Thursday, skidding more than 2% lower on growing concerns that a US recession will cool demand in other economies.
US light crude for February delivery slipped $1.96 to $93.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Losses been trimmed earlier on hints from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that US interest rates could fall further.
Goldman Sachs upset investors with comments suggesting there was a 50% chance that Japan will fall into recession, just a day after it predicted a recession in the US from the second quarter.
Traders were also disappointed that the European Central Bank kept its benchmark rate on hold at 4% due to inflation fears and lower unemployment.
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On the metal markets, gold racked up a new record high Thursday on dollar weakness and as Bernanke’s comments raised the possibility of further losses for the US currency.
Gold for February delivery jumped $11.90 to $893.60 an ounce in New York, but had been up as high as $897.30 earlier in the session.
Elsewhere, silver and platinum posted gains, but copper was little changed and palladium suffered losses.
