By MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures fell further below $80-a-barrel Monday, under pressure in the face of fresh jitters about Greece as well as keying off lower equities prices.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery CL1X -1.58% dropped 1.3% to $78.15 a barrel — the lowest level seen for a front-running crude contract in about a year. The contract lost 3.6% on the last day of September, bringing its monthly pullback to fully 11%.
The latest jitters were sparked in part by Greece acknowledging it would miss its deficit targets this year. See: Europe stocks drop on Greek deficit fears.
On the economic data front, euro-zone manufacturing activity contracted in September for the second straight month.
Asian bourses also fell overnight, with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average losing 1.8%.
