FX.co ★ Oil Prices Slide On Demand Concerns

Oil price fell on Tuesday amid concerns that a possible recession and China's COVID-19 curbs will hurt demand.

Benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.4 percent to $110.31 a barrel in European trade, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.3 percent at $109.91.

It is feared that aggressive monetary policy tightening by central banks to control inflation could tip the global economy into a recession.

As worries of runaway inflation mount, investors now await a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell due later in the day and the latest FOMC minutes scheduled for Wednesday for further clues with regards to growth and the future of monetary tightening in the world's largest economy.

Beijing stepped up quarantine efforts to end its month-old COVID outbreak as fresh signs of frustration emerged in Shanghai.

Investment banks UBS Group and JPMorgan Chase downgraded their forecasts for China's economic growth this year, citing disappointing April activity data and the impact of the coronavirus strategy.