Oil tumbles on virus, US poll jitters

Stocks across the globe resumed their slide on Friday and oil posted a double-digit weekly fall on continued concern over the economic impact of rising global coronavirus infections and ahead of tomorrow's US presidential election.

Global Covid-19 cases rose by over 500,000 for the first time this week, with France and Germany preparing fresh lockdowns while a record surge of US cases is pushing hospitals to the brink of capacity and killing up to 1,000 people a day.

Underwhelming outlooks and results from some of Wall Street's largest companies, including Apple and Facebook, further soured the mood and dragged US stocks lower.

Oil prices fell for the fourth time weighed by demand concerns as Covid-19 cases swelled globally and fresh lockdowns were to start in Europe's big economies.

US crude fell 1.38 per cent to Sh3,853 ($35.67) per barrel and Brent was at Sh4,000 ($37.45), down 0.53 per cent on the day.