Oil falls more than 1% as surging Covid-19 cases stoke demand fears

TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday, extending last week's losses, as a jump in COVID-19 infections in the United States and Europe raised alarms over crude demand, while the prospect of increased supply also hurt sentiment.

Brent crude was down by 53 cents, or 1.3%, at $41.24 by 0052 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 53 cents, or 1.3%, to $39.32, having fallen more than a dollar shortly after the start of trading.

Brent fell 2.7% last week and WTI dropped 2.5%.

The United States reported its highest number yet of new coronavirus infections in two days through Saturday, while in France new cases hit a record of more than 50,000 on Sunday, underlining the severity of the outbreak.