Oil, along with global markets plummeted, after United States President Donald Trump said the U.S was suspending all passenger travel from continental Europe into the US for thirty days.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 4.4 percent to $34 as of 1:03am EDT.
The travel suspension starts Friday as the world’s top economy attempts to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease which has now been tagged a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Trump announced the travel ban on live television along with emergency funds to boost the U.S. economy, saying: “This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.”
Global markets plunged immediately after the announcement, with the U.S. S&P500 futures ESc1 down more than 3%, and Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down more than 4%. The dollar lost 1% against the yen.
The United States has reported 1,281 cases and 37 deaths caused by the virus.
