Oil remained under $63 a barrel in Asian trade today amid rising concerns that a recovery from the worldwide recession was unlikely to happen soon.
In morning trade New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, was down 63 cents to $62.30 a barrel, extending sharp falls in US trade overnight.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August eased 58 cents to $62.65.
New York crude has lost more than $11 and Brent over $10 since June 30 when prices for both contracts rose to more than $73 a barrel, their highest levels this year.
"Oil continues to trade along with the financial markets," said Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.
"Weeks ago, both stock markets and oil markets traded hand in hand going up. Now, stock markets are tumbling and oil is also tumbling, and that's because of renewed concerns that the recovery from the global recession is likely to be slow."
Doubts over a global economic bounce were rekindled following the June unemployment report in the United States, which showed a bigger-than-expected number of jobs losses.
Yesterday, Laura Tyson, a member of US President Barack Obama's Economic Advisory Panel, said the United States may need a second stimulus package to put the world's biggest economy firmly on the path to recovery.
