(Bloomberg) -- Oil fell for a third day with rising virus infections in the U.S. threatening to derail the nascent economic revival and the nation’s fuel-demand recovery.
Futures in New York declined 0.5% in early Asia trade. Coronavirus cases in the U.S. jumped 1.8% to 2.96 million after new cases topped 50,000 for a fourth day. Texas’s daily cases, Arizona’s deaths and California’s hospitalizations hit new highs. Gasoline demand has been hit hard, falling by almost 420,000 barrels a day last week, according to RBC Capital markets.
Oil’s rally has stalled, particularly in the U.S. where demand for fuels has been tepid during the peak summer driving season. The unabated surge in infections is threatening the pace of the U.S. economic recovery, the world’s biggest oil consumer.
A Bloomberg survey predicted a 550,000 barrels build in the stockpiles of the motor fuel, contrasting with an American Petroleum Institute report showing a 1.83 million-barrel drop. Official government data is due later Wednesday.
In Europe, officials sent the starkest warning yet about the impact of the pandemic. The European Commission warned that the impact of the pandemic may be worse than previously estimated and recovery may take longer because of a slow easing of coronavirus restrictions. It forecast a contraction of 8.7% in the euro area this year, a full percentage point deeper than previously predicted.
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