Business and Capital Market Analysis !!!

By. PABLO GORONDI | Associated Press / AP Online

Oil prices plunged over $3 Thursday, briefly dipping below $50 a barrel as 16-year high U.S. unemployment figures and plummeting stock markets caused investors to price in lower crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery was down $3.25 to $50.37 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by early afternoon in Europe.

Crude briefly dipped below $50 for the first time since Jan. 18, 2007 when prices struck $49.91, just a penny above the 2007 low.

On Wednesday, the contract fell 77 cents to settle at $53.62.
In London, January Brent crude fell $2.89 to $48.83 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Markets worried that a steep economic slowdown would cut demand for oil.

A production cut by OPEC may keep prices from falling further. OPEC President Chakib Khelil has signaled the group may announce production cuts at the December meeting, but some members, such as Iran, have called for earlier cuts.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 7.30 cents to $1.034 a gallon. Heating oil lost 5.33 cents to $1.7064 a gallon while natural gas for December delivery slid 9.9 cents to $6.644 per 1,000 cubic feet.