Oil prices continue slump in fallout from Silicon Valley Bank shutdown

Oil prices fell more than $2 a barrel on Tuesday to their session's low, extending the previous day's slide, as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank rattled equities markets and sparked fears of a fresh financial crisis.  

Brent crude futures were down $1.11 or 1.3% to $79.66 a barrel at 6.26 PM, having earlier touched a low of $78.76. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) were down $1.24 or 1.6% to $73.56 a barrel, off a low of $72.69. 

On Monday, Brent and WTI fell to their lowest since early January and December, respectively. Oil prices dropped alongside a continued slide in equities markets. Commerzbank analysts forecast high volatility in the energy markets in the coming days. 

“We see Monday’s develo­pments around the regional US banks as more noise than news for commodity markets, and it should not have any meaningful medium- to longer-term impact,” said UBS analyst Carsten Menke.