Oil prices down again on worries about demand

NEW YORK: Oil prices sank again Tuesday, falling below 50 dollars a barrel in New York as the market worried about demand on signs of a deepening global economic downturn. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for May delivery, fell 1.90 dollars from its Monday close to settle at 49.15 dollars a barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for May dropped 1.02 dollars to close at 51.22 dollars a barrel. Pessimism gripped financial markets, particularly stock markets, as the US corporate earnings season was set to get under way and concerns mounted about the embattled banking sector. "The quarterly corporate earnings reports that will be issued in coming days will probably not contain much to applaud," said Mike Fitzpatrick, an analyst at MF Global. "With the market focused more on macroeconomic considerations than anything else, the recent push above 50 dollars has probably run its course”, he added.