Oil suffered another dizzying plunge on Tuesday, with Brent crude sliding to a five-year low under $59 as markets were rocked by shrinking Chinese manufacturing output and turmoil in Russia.
At mid-day in London, benchmark contract Brent North Sea crude for January delivery slumped to $58.50 a barrel, the lowest level since May 2009, and New York’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January hit a similar nadir at $53.80.
The oil market has plummeted by almost 50 per cent since June, dented also by OPEC’s recent decision to hold its output ceiling in an oversupplied market.
Sentiment was hit by the Russian central bank’s shock move to raise interest rates to 17 per cent, which has failed to arrest the slide of the rouble.
The Russian rouble crashed to new record lows on Tuesday, losing some 20 per cent in value by the afternoon despite drastic overnight measures by the central bank to hike the key rate.
The rouble hit 80 to the dollar and 100 to the euro on the Moscow Exchange.
