By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- Brent crude futures fell below $50 a barrel Friday, hitting their lowest level since July 2017 as market participants priced in increasingly severe demand destruction from the Covid-19 novel coronavirus outbreak.
By 4:30 AM ET (0930 GMT), Brent crude for April delivery was trading at $49.80 a barrel, down 3.7% on the day and down nearly 15% over the week. U.S. crude futures were likewise down 4.4% at $45.02 a barrel.
The latest leg down came after two of Europe's largest airline groups warned of falling demand and cancelled flights. International Airlines Group (LON:ICAG), the parent of British Airways and Iberia, as well as discount flyer EasyJet (LON:EZJ), both warned that they faced serious impacts from the virus, but that it was impossible to say just yet how bad things could get.