Oil extends fall in pre-market trading as Brent stays below $100
US crude settled at $95.78 a barrel on Monday, down 4.51%, after Brent dropped below $100 for the first time since September 9
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Chart: USO, a fund that tracks crude, one-minute prices through the session
Brent and US crude futures were lower again in pre-market trading on Tuesday, building on Monday's slide as traders weighed hopes for more supply from the Gulf.
The drop reverses months of anxiety over Middle East supply that had pushed Brent toward $108. Flows through the Strait of Hormuz have recovered and Gulf producers are restoring shipments, pointing to a genuine easing of the chokepoint concerns that once threatened to disrupt exports. That is bearish for oil prices in the near term, but it also removes an inflation risk that had weighed on equities and supported the case for further rate hikes.