# US crude falls below $43 a barrel as stock market sinks

> U.S. crude plunged nearly 7 percent to settle at an 18-month low of $42.53 as equities slid on a potential U.S. government shutdown and reports that the President wanted to fire the Federal Reserve chair. The Dow fell more than 600 points and closed in bear market territory, and investors moved into gold and government debt.

- Date: 2018-12-24 · published 2018-12-24T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/8703-us-crude-falls-below-43-a-barrel-as-stock-market-sinks
- Commodities: [Crude Oil (WTI)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WTI.md)

## Why it matters

Broad risk-off selling spilled into crude as investors fled to safe havens, reducing energy prices. Lower crude lowers biofuel economics and can weigh on demand for vegetable oils used in fuel.

## Read by commodity

- WTI: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WTI | 2020-03-17 | [Brent crude sinks below $30 a barrel as recession fears weigh](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7658-brent-crude-sinks-below-30-a-barrel-as-recession-fears-weigh.md) | -19.2% | -30.3% |
| WTI | 2020-10-28 | [Oil Falls As Rise In US Crude Stocks Fans Over-Supply Fears](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50802-oil-falls-as-rise-in-us-crude-stocks-fans-over-supply-fears.md) | -4.8% | +13.6% |
| WTI | 2020-04-27 | [U.S. oil plunges 25%, Brent falls below $20 a barrel \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/53810-u-s-oil-plunges-25-brent-falls-below-20-a-barrel-reuters.md) | +21.1% | +105.0% |
| WTI | 2018-02-02 | [Oil prices fall as US stock market slumps and dollar strengthens](https://feedsoft.ai/events/66659-oil-prices-fall-as-us-stock-market-slumps-and-dollar-strengthens.md) | -7.0% | -7.1% |
| WTI | 2022-07-05 | [U.S. oil just tumbled below $100 a barrel — What that says about recession fears and tight crude supplies - MarketWatch](https://feedsoft.ai/events/12615-u-s-oil-just-tumbled-below-100-a-barrel-what-that-says-about-recession-fears.md) | -3.9% | -12.8% |

## Sources

- cnbc.com: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/24/oil-markets-global-crude-supply-in-focus.html

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.