Oil prices slide amid coronavirus concerns

Oil prices moved lower on Thursday as investors continued to worry about demand outlook amid the pandemic.

The West Texas Intermediate for November delivery lost 8 cents to settle at 40.96 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery decreased 16 cents to 43.16 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The moves came as increasing COVID-19 infections in some major economies cast more uncertainty over demand recovery.

Meanwhile, prices found some support from a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 3.8 million barrels during the week ending Oct. 9, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expected the EIA to report a drop of 2.3 million barrels in U.S. supplies for the week.