Oil prices tumbled more than 3% on Thursday, as new COVID-19 lockdown measures in China added to worries that high inflation and interest rate hikes are denting fuel demand. Brent crude settled down $3.28 at $92.36 a barrel, a 3.4% drop. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $2.94, or 3.3%, to $86.61 per barrel. “Western-world oil demand, as well as China’s, is stagnant, while supplies are expanding incrementally, largely on the back of the U.S. shale boom,” said Julius Baer analyst Norbert Rucker. Asia’s factory activity slumped in August as China’s zero-COVID curbs and cost pressures continued to hurt businesses, surveys showed on Thursday, darkening the outlook for the region’s fragile recovery. read more Southern Chinese tech hub Shenzhen tightened COVID-19 curbs as […]