West Texas
Intermediate slid from the highest closing price in two weeks amid slowing
economic growth and weaker industrial output in
Futures
lost as much as 0.9 percent in
WTI for
February delivery fell as much as 81 cents to $93.56 a barrel in electronic
trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $93.90 as of 9:42 a.m.
local time. The contract, which expires tomorrow, climbed 41 cents to $94.37 on
Jan. 17, the highest close since Jan. 2. The more-active March future was down
41 cents at $94.18. Floor trading is closed for a
Brent for
March settlement dropped as much as 38 cents to $106.10 a barrel on the
London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The volume of all contracts traded
was about 40 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude
was at a $12.25 premium to WTI for the same month.