Oil Declines as U.S. Spending Slides, Moody’s Warns of Downgrade

Oil declined for a fourth day in New York, its longest losing streak since May, as investors bet that signs of a slowing U.S. economy indicate fuel demand will falter in the world’s biggest crude-consuming nation.

Futures slipped as much as 0.7 percent today after U.S. consumer spending unexpectedly fell in June for the first time in almost two years. Moody’s Investors Service said the nation’s credit rating may be downgraded on concerns that fiscal discipline will ease, further debt reduction measures won’t be adopted and the economy will weaken. Oil is also declining after breaching a technical support level.