SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Monday after plunging nearly 8 percent in the previous session, but remain under pressure with Brent crude below $60 per barrel amid weak fundamentals and struggling financial markets.
Front-month Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $59.23 per barrel at 0202 GMT, up 43 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1, were up 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $50.53 per barrel.
The gains did little to make up for Friday’s selloff, which traders have already dubbed ‘Black Friday’.
Reacting to Friday’s falls in Brent and WTI, China’s Shanghai crude futures on Monday ISCcv1 fell by 5 percent, hitting their daily downside-limit.
Greg McKenna, an Australian-based independent financial analyst, said there had been an “utter capitulation in crude oil” markets.
The downward pressure comes from surging supply and a slowdown in demand growth which is expected to result in an oil supply overhang in 2019.
