Oil prices plummeted to 64 U.S. dollars a barrel on Monday as investors felt less confident for a speedy recovery of the economy, Xinhua reported.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 2.68 dollars, or 4. 0 percent, to settle at 64.05 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,after touching a five-week low of 63.40 dollars a barrel. The contract has lost about 8 percent in the first three sessions this month.
The oil market was still under great pressure of the unemployment data released last week, which showed the unemployment rate climbed to a new 26-year high of 9.5 percent in the United States and a 10-year peak of 9.5 percent in the euro zone countries.
Meanwhile, investors flooded into the foreign exchange market to seek refuge and push the dollar up for a third day versus the euro, which also encouraged selling in the oil market.
In London, Brent crude for August delivery dropped 1.56 dollars from Friday's close to 64.05 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.