Oil dips on global growth concern

Bloomberg

Crude tumbled below $52 a barrel as disappointing corporate earnings forecasts in the US stoked concern about the global economy, weighing down a market already anxious about America’s oil boom.
Futures in New York dropped as much as 3.5 percent, joining the slide in equities after chip-marker Nvidia Corp and heavy-equipment company Caterpillar Inc warned of slowing global growth. Crude was already down after oilfield services provider Baker Hughes released data showing US weekly rig count rose for first time this year.
Oil has advanced 16 percent this year as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies start cutting production to ease concerns over a supply glut. Nevertheless, record American output, rising stockpiles and the continuing US-China trade war have capped gains.
Talks between the world’s two biggest economies later this week may provide the catalyst for crude to break through its recent narrow trading range.
“This is a broader risk-off move,” said Ryan McKay, a commodities strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. The earnings reports are “a bad sign for demand in China and for global growth overall, and that’s a big worry for crude
markets these days.”
West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery fell as much as $1.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was down $1.59 to $52.10 a barrel.