Crude ends day on down note

NEW YORK, N.Y., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices plunged nearly 5 percent Monday, dropping nearly $3.42 to finish at $72.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Of all the energy prices, only natural gas finished on a positive note, rising 11.8 cents to $6.208 per million British thermal units.

Gasoline and heating oil futures also declined sharply. Gasoline fell 10.31 cents to finish at $1.9259 a gallon, its lowest closing level since March 23. heating oil was off more than 4 percent, closing down 9.47 cents at $1.9393 a gallon.

The sell-off began Friday as traders began analyzing a potential impact on a weaker-than-expected jobs number, Marketwatch reported.

"The bottom line is that the market fears that a slowdown in the economy could slow the demand for oil," said Phil Flynn, Alaron Trading analyst.

At the pump, the average price for unleaded gasoline was $2.838, down slightly from Monday's $2.843 average, according to the AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.