'선물만기 쇼크' 국제유가 첫 마이너스…5월물 WTI '-37달러'

Our top story this morning.
U.S. oil prices have become technically worthless,... as crude futures collapsed below zero U.S. dollars on Monday.
A first in history,... as concerns over weak energy demand reached a historic high in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The massive crash on the oil markets spilled over to Wall Street,... but the declines were far less pronounced.
Hong Yoo reports.
U.S. crude oil futures ended the first trading day of the week at minus 37 dollars 63 cents a barrel,... entering negative territory for the first time ever.
The plunge has been unprecedented in its velocity.
The price was around 60 dollars a barrel at the turn of the year. less than four months ago.
Oil prices fell off a cliff due to oversupply as billions of people around the world are forced to stay home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With factories shuttered worldwide and far less air and road traffic, a record 160 million barrels of oil is sitting idle in tankers around the world.
And oil companies are short of storage tanks for crude to be delivered next month.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell nearly nine percent on Monday to 25-point-57 dollars a barrel.
"Well, first of all, the negative prices in the expiring May contract, which expires tomorrow, so it really what we're seeing is what we've been talking about for many weeks, the fact the crude stocks are so high that there's no storage, and there's no storage available at Cushing at any price, even at negative $50, negative $60, which is the carry between May and June. Clearly, it's not positive for the economy."
The June WTI contract was higher at 20-point-43 dollars a barrel,... but experts say with storage most likely to remain full for the next weeks, even months, it would take a while for oil futures to pick up.
In response, U.S. stocks closed lower Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2-point-44 percent, the S&P 500 1-point-8 percent and Nasdaq... one percent.
Hong Yoo, Arirang News.