Oil tumbles further into bear market, hits lowest price in 4 years as coronavirus fallout continues

The global spread of coronavirus has rattled a market that was already vulnerable to the outbreak.
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Oil fell to its lowest price since July 2017, just the latest in a slew of dismal benchmarks for the commodity that's been in a bear market all week amid coronavirus fears.

Brent crude , the global oil benchmark, fell as much as 4.2%, briefly breaking below $50 a barrel, which is a level not seen since 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported . It pared those losses sligthy to trade down 2.4% that still puts it on track for its worst week in four years.

WTI crude marched toward its own 13-month lows, last trading down 3.6%.

Coronavirus has ravaged oil markets this week. Oil was always a vulnerable market to coronavirus headlines, but the narrative for much of the outbreak remained centered on the hit coronavirus would have on Chinese demand for oil the counry is the single largest importer of oil in the world. But reports of new cases outside of China outpaced reports within it this week, and made clear that the virus could mean a global, rather than regional, downturn in demand.

A possible glimmer of hope rests in OPEC's meeting next week, where Saudi Arabia will likely push for production cuts to stem the price unraveling. But Russia, a key OPEC ally, opposes cuts, leaving markets unsure whether OPEC will be able to offer a supply-side fix to the sell-off.

The rest of the commodities market did not fare much better Friday as the risk-off mood pervading markets all week kept its grip. Copper was last down 1.14% and the nearest London Metals Exchange contract on zinc down 1.66%. Cattle was down 1.67%.