Asian equities fell overnight causing crude-oil futures to fall more than 4% today to below $70 a barrel.
From Moming Zhou & V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures tumbled more than 4% Monday to below $70 a barrel, reducing most of their monthly gains as declines in global stock markets dampened sentiment toward energy trading.
Asian equities fell overnight, a session marked by a 6.7% slump in Shanghai stocks tied to concerns over the pace of bank lending. China ranks as the world's No. 2 consumer of oil. U.S. stocks were also solidly lower to start the week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for October delivery lost $2.99, or 4.1%, to $69.75 a barrel. Oil had hit $75 a barrel in recent days, a level not seen in 10 months, but ended last week down 1.6% after data showed petroleum demand in the U.S. remained weak.
