Oil prices hit new lows

Oil prices dropped to new lows in Asian trade on Monday, aligning with a wider selloff as stock markets slid in the region and a number of currencies fell to new multiyear lows.

Brent crude dropped below the $45-per-barrel mark for the first time since March 2009, trading around 56 percent lower from its year-high in August 2014 of $103.19 per barrel.

The impact of China’s main stock index – down by as much as 8.5 percent earlier in the day and leaning into negative territory for the year – on global markets has fuelled worries that its commodities imports could fall further, while oversupply concerns persist in depressing prices. More broadly, the index of commodity prices on Monday was at its lowest level this century, according to the Financial Times.

Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October were trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $39.70 per barrel by 2.03 am, GMT, a fall of $0.75 in the Globex electronic session. On London’s ICE Futures exchange, October Brent crude traded at $44.73 per barrel, down $0.73.