Oil drops as gold hits 4-month low

Oil prices headed back into a bear market as futures slid in spite of falling US inventories.

US West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell one per cent to below $52 a barrel, having earlier flirted with the $50 handle as concerns about China and Greece weighed on markets.

Brent crude on the ICE Futures Exchange in London fell by more than one per cent to trade around $56 a barrel.

Oil came under heavy pressure after Baker Hughes said the number of US rigs for drilling rose by 12 last week, snapping a 29-week run of declines in the count.

Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute reported that US crude stocks fell by 958,000 barrels in the week ending July 3rd.

A steep fall in Chinese stocks, coupled with the ongoing Greece crisis, is depressing investor sentiment.

Elsewhere, gold slipped to its lowest in four months and was last trading around $1,150 an ounce after shedding two per cent in the last two days.