* Bank of England cuts rates by 150 basis points
* Market eyes on dollar, economic indicators
* EIA expects 1.1 mln barrel per day OPEC cut by January
* Goldman Sachs lays off 3,200 employees
(Updates after Bank of England rate cut)
By David Sheppard
LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Oil slipped further below $64 a
barrel on Thursday after the Bank of England cut interest rates
by an unprecedented 150 basis points, highlighting deepening
fears of a demand-crushing global recession.
U.S. light crude for December delivery <CLc1> fell $1.60 to
$63.70 a barrel by 1220 GMT. London Brent Crude <LCOc1> dropped
$1.60 to $60.27, having earlier fallen to a low of $60.00 a
barrel.
The falls extended a 7 percent drop in U.S. crude oil the
previous session as heightened fears of economic slowdown across
the world weighed on sentiment. It fell by $5.23 to settle at
$65.30 a barrel on Wednesday.
Growing U.S. fuel stockpiles, which underscored slackening
oil demand, dollar strength and a sharp slide in global equities
also helped pull oil prices lower.
"Stock markets are taking a bit of a belting and oil's being
dragged down by a broader equity and commodity sell-off," said
MF Global global analyst Robert Laughlin.
The euro and sterling both fell against the dollar. Dollar
strength tends to lessen demand for dollar-priced commodities.
[]
European equities fell by more than 2 percent, tracking
steep declines in U.S. and Asian shares. []
Analysts said traders would be eyeing news of key U.S.
economic indicators, including a government report on weekly
jobless claims due on Thursday at 1330 GMT and Friday's
unemployment data, to gauge how the economy of the world's
largest energy consumer is faring.
Reports on Wednesday showed U.S. employers cut 157,000
private sector jobs last month, while the service sector
contracted sharply as the worst financial crisis in 80 years
hammered the world's largest economy. []
News that investment bank Goldman Sachs <GS.N> planned to
lay off another 3,200 employees, and that bellwether technology
company Cisco warned revenue could fall as much as 10 percent
added to the gloom. [] []
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 1.1 million barrels last week,
against analyst predictions for a drop, as demand for the fuel
fell 2.3 percent over a four-week period to Oct. 31, the Energy
Information Administration (EIA)said. []
The EIA said it expected OPEC production to be cut by 1.1
million barrels a day (bpd) by January, which would represent
about 70 percent of the cut of 1.5 million bpd agreed by OPEC
last month and would be higher than the usual 50 percent
compliance with previous cuts. []
However, many analysts think OPEC could move to cut output
further if prices fall below $60 a barrel, as member nations
struggle to balance their budgets following the near 60 percent
collapse in oil prices since July.
(Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson)
