Commodities were yesterday hammered for the second straight day with oil prices falling to $90 a barrel as investors rushed to unwind trading positions in crude amid worries about AIG, the US insurer that is also the sponsor of a large commodity index.
West Texas Intermediate prices tumbled more than $4 to an intra-day low of $90.55, leading a broad sell-off in base metals and agriculture commodities. Brent crude fell $4 to $88.99 a barrel.
The DJ-AIG commodity index, the second most popular in the asset class, with pension funds and other large investors investing some $30bn in derivatives that track the benchmark, fell 2.7 per cent, to its lowest level since September 2007.