2020.04.2410:07:00UTC+00Oil Prices Fall In Choppy Trade

Oil prices fell in choppy trade on Friday as coronavirus worries overshadowed investor optimism over output cuts.

Benchmark Brent crude dropped 1.1 percent to $21.09 a barrel, after having jumped 5 percent in the previous session. Similarly, U.S. crude futures were down about 1 percent at $16.34 a barrel, after surging 20 percent on Thursday

Prices rose sharply earlier in the session after some producers like Kuwait said they would move to cut output swiftly to try to counter the evaporation in global demand for fuels caused by the coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus worries returned to the fore after a potential antiviral drug for the coronavirus reportedly failed in its first randomized clinical trial and European Union leaders again failed to reach an agreement over the structure of an economic recovery fund to tackle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde reportedly told the meeting that the European Union's economy could shrink by as much as 15 percent this year as a result of slow decision making.

The worldwide death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 190,000 late Thursday, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. continues to be the worst-hit country with 873,137 cases and nearly 50,000 fatalities, followed by Italy and Spain.