Oil values slump on sombre economic outlook

Brent Crude Oil values have slumped in commodities trading today (September 24th), as concerns of weak economic growth indicate demand for the fuel may be on the slide.

Fresh efforts to spur growth from central banks in the US, Japan and Europe have not done enough to combat the gloomy outlook, because when economic growth slows, so does demand for oil.

A stronger dollar has made crude more expensive and less attractive to investors, after the black stuff rallied on news the US Federal Reserve is planning to implement a fresh round of open-ended quantitative easing – which served to buoy the dollar-denominated commodity.

But news the German Ifo index of business confidence is down for the fifth consecutive month and World Trade Organization estimates have cut global trade growth for this year and next have dampened investor confidence.

At 16:40 BST, Brent Crude Oil Futures were lower by 1.8 per cent to $109.42 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures retreated 1.6 per cent to $91.61 per barrel.

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