•Crude futures headed south at the start of the week, with European trading on Monday showing a bearish picture for the whole petroleum complex due to ongoing economic fears regarding a possible US recession dampening market confidence not just in commodities but also in financial markets, sources said. The latest downward turn in petroleum futures prices came in line with a fall in financial markets, despite US President Bush's announcement of a fiscal stimulus package on Friday, according to market sources.

•"The selloff today is mainly due to strong losses in stock markets this morning, triggered by US economic woes," a London-based broker said. President Bush said last Friday that his plan would be worth "around 1%"of US gross domestic product and offer tax rebates, incentives for businesses and other measures to encourage growth. However, Bush's package "is seen as too late and not strong enough to make an impact," said Najeeb Jarhom, head of research for retail clients at Fraser Securities in Singapore. "It looks like the US is heading for a recession or maybe already [is] in recession, looking at the data," he said.

Updated: January 21, 2008