OIL EXTENDS LOSSES AS MARKETS FALL, INVENTORIES CLIMB

LONDON — Oil prices slumped to two-week lows on Thursday as global stock markets fell, with investor sentiment made more bearish by an industry report showing US crude inventories rising more than expected.

Brent crude fell $1.74 a barrel to a low of $81.35, its lowest since Sept. 27, before recovering a little to trade around $81.70 by 0850 GMT. Brent lost 2.2 per cent on Wednesday. On October 3, it hit a four-year high of $86.74. US light crude dropped $1.37 to $71.80 but then recovered to around $72.05. The contract lost 2.4 per cent in the previous session.

“The up-trend is over for the moment, and a new direction is settling in,” said Robin Bieber, technical chart analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil. “The market looks like heading lower, with valid targets south.” Share markets in Asia plunged to a 19-month low on Thursday after Wall Street’s worst losses in eight months led to broader risk aversion.”