A weeks-long run on climbing crude oil prices came to a halt Friday courtesy of a combination of heightened geopolitical and economic tensions involving China. Front-month NYMEX WTI crude prices fell by 5% early Friday before paring some of the losses and rising back above $33/b later in the day. The action in the oil markets came after China brought a double-shot of news Friday, as the world’s most-populous nation scrapped its 2020 GDP growth target and announced a stricter national security plan for semi-autonomous Hong Kong that immediately brought condemnation from the US and other nations. Crude futures had been on a steady upward […]