Oil Plunges As New Coronavirus Strain Spooks Markets

Oil prices plummeted early on Monday as a new strain of the coronavirus in the UK, found to be spreading faster among people, prompted tougher lockdowns in Britain and many European countries banning flights from the UK. As of 8:41 a.m. ET on Monday, WTI Crude was plunging by 4.20 percent to $47.04, and Brent Crude was down by 4.17 percent on the day at $50.12, after briefly slipping to below $50 a barrel. The steep correction on the oil market, as well as on all European equity markets, followed the news out of the UK that a new mutated strain…