Oil Falls $3 on High-volume Selling

Reuters reported that the price of oil dropped $3, falling as much as $5 at its lowest point, due to high-volume selling that may have been the result of a problem with an automated computer trading program.

As quoted in the market news:

Thirteen thousand U.S. crude lots and 10,000 Brent lots traded in one minute during the price drop, up from 131 and 152 lots respectively in the minute prior to the first waves of selling.

Brent November crude closed down $2.87 at $113.79 a barrel, having traded from $117.02 to $111.50. Brent’s 200-day moving average, a key technical indicator for traders, was at $111.85 a barrel.

U.S. October crude, set to expire on Thursday, fell $2.38 to settle at $96.62 a barrel. It traded between $94.65 a barrel and $99.52 a barrel during the session.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.