Oil prices slumped for a sixth day in a row on Friday to their lowest in more than a year, causing futures to drop by the most in a week since 2016, as the spread of coronavirus stoked fears that a slowing global economy would hit energy demand.

The coronavirus spread further, with cases reported for the first time in six countries across three continents, battering markets and leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise its impact risk alert to “very high.”

The most active Brent future for May LCOc2 delivery fell $2.06, or 4.0%, to settle at $49.67 a barrel, its lowest since July 2017. Brent LCOc1 futures for April delivery, meanwhile, lost $1.66, or 3.2%, to settle at $50.52 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 fell $2.33, or 5.0%, to settle at $44.76. That is the lowest closes for both Brent and WTI since December 2018.

For the week, Brent lost almost 14%, its biggest weekly percentage decline since January 2016, while WTI fell over 16% in its biggest weekly percentage drop since December 2008.

Coronavirus panic also sent global stock markets and industrial and precious metals prices tumbling, with losses amounting to $5 trillion. “Virtually all fixed assets are attempting to accurately discount GDP and demand impact from the coronavirus that still appears to be spreading rather than contracting,” Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a report.

Reuters