Oil prices tumble as Trump pulls forward in US election

Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday as vote counting showed Republican Donald Trump doing better than expected in several crucial battleground states in the US presidential election.

With traders glued to their screens, crude futures markets roared into action as counting advanced, with Trump holding narrow leads over Democrat Hillary Clinton in a series of key contests.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 crude futures fell to a session low of $43.07 per barrel, down more than four percent from their last close and their lowest since September, before inching back to $43.30 a barrel at 3.33am GMT.

International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down three percent at $44.68 a barrel.

"This is dejavu of the Brexit moment, very worrying," said Bob Takai, president at Sumitomo Corp Global Research in Tokyo, referring to Britain's surprise vote to leave the European Union in a referendum last June, which led to market turmoil. (Reuters)