Oil prices sink to lowest levels in four years: Report

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, plunged 3.5% to trade at $63.30 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, also fell 3.5% to $59.84 by 4.16 a.m. ET. Both are trading at their lowest levels since early 2021 when the world was still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic.

The falls in prices come after OPEC+, the coalition of the world’s top oil producers, surprised investors last week by deciding on a much bigger boost in oil supply than planned earlier: Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other members of the group agreed on larger production increases starting in May than previously announced.

Global markets plunged on Monday, deepening a global stocks rout triggered by Trump’s trade war and China’s forceful response to unexpectedly high tariffs.

Despite his tariffs wiping away trillions from the market value of global stocks, UTrump appeared untroubled late Sunday evening.

“I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

In his “Liberation Day” announcement last week, Trump claimed that the US has been “ripped off for more than 50 years,” saying this is “not going to happen anymore.”

With the administration sending mixed signals on whether his trade policies are open for negotiation, fears of a global recession are mounting.

On Monday, Trump took to social media Monday to argue that the US is in a strong economic position, despite the fact that the US and global markets have tanked.

The president claimed that the country will earn billions of dollars from the tariffs he placed on other countries, even as the stock market faces its worst start to a presidential term in modern history.