Business Oil Price Slides, Strong Dollar Drags Asian Shares Lower

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Oil prices slide while a stronger dollar piled on pressure on commodity producers as Asian shares dropped on Thursday, with energy stocks taking a hammering from the results, Bloomberg reports.

Equity markets across the region ended lower and European bourses dropped in early trading after US oil prices dipped below $40 a barrel for the first time in five sessions on Wednesday.

Crude posted its biggest loss in six weeks after news that US commercial stockpiles surged by 9.36 million barrels last week, more than three times the prediction of analysts polled by Bloomberg News.

Hints the US could raise interest rates next month drove the dollar higher, piling pressure on commodities and sending Sydney’s resources-rich benchmark tumbling 1.13 percent.

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European bourses also got off to a downbeat start, with Paris and London down 0.8 percent, and Frankfurt off 0.5 percent.

“The oil price and equity markets are teetering on the verge of a much larger pullback as hawkish (US Federal Reserve) officials have lifted the US dollar,” said Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG.

“Markets in Asia look to be rolling over as the whole region suffered steady losses throughout the session.






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