Oil falls 3% to below $58 a barrel as recession worries weigh on prices

Oil fell 3% to below $58 a barrel on Thursday, extending the previous session’s 3% drop, pressured by mounting recession concerns and a surprise boost in US crude inventories.

In a sign of investor concern that the world’s biggest economy could be heading for recession, weighing on oil demand, the US Treasury bond yield curve inverted on Wednesday for the first time since 2007.

Global benchmark Brent crude fell as much as $1.81, or 3%, to $57.67 a barrel and by 1117 GMT was down $1.57 at $57.91. US crude fell $1.03 to $54.20.

“The oil market has become a recession fear gauge,” said Norbert Ruecker of Swiss bank Julius Baer. “The North American market remains amply supplied with storage levels well above historical averages.”