MW: Oil futures drop below $70 a barrel, extending losses
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures dropped below $70 a barrel on Friday, tracking losses in U.S. stock futures and the euro, as worries over European debt problems continued to weigh on sentiment.
Crude oil for July delivery fell $1.01, or 1.6%, to $69.79 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. The contract earlier hit an intraday low of $69.26 a barrel.
Crude futures ended down more than 2% on Thursday.
"Oil prices are lower, as euro-zone confidence declines and stock markets remain under pressure," said analysts at Action Economics.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street, as most European equity markets also posted losses.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.2515, +0.0045, +0.3609%) edged lower to $1.2497 in afternoon trading in Frankfurt. Traders digested news that Germany's lower house of Parliament approved its contribution to the 750 billion-euro bailout plan put together by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
The upper house of parliament is due to vote on the same legislation later on Friday and is also expected to approve it. Read more on the German votes.
"There are clearly fears that the announced fiscal consolidation measures could sharply curb economic growth and oil demand in Europe," said analysts at Commerzbank AG.
Greece, Spain and Portugal are among the euro-zone countries that have announced austerity measures recently that are aimed at lowering their excessive budget deficits.
