Briefs: Oil price drops sharply on new demand data
Oil futures fell sharply Wednesday after the Energy Department said the nation’s supplies of fuel and oil were larger than expected last week — evidence that the soaring price for gasoline has sliced into Americans’ demand for fuel.
Analysts surveyed by research firm Platts had expected a 1.7 million barrel decline.
Demand for gas, meanwhile, fell 2.1 percent.
“At some point, that’s going to bring (gas) prices down,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $2.45 to settle at $134.55 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Countrywide sued by Illinois, California
Countrywide Financial Corp. is accused of using misleading advertising and other unfair business practices to trick borrowers into taking on risky home loans they didn’t fully understand in lawsuits filed Wednesday by the attorneys general of California and Illinois.
The lawsuits were filed on the same day Countrywide shareholders approved the company’s takeover by Bank of America Corp.
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