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Oil price drops amid economic woes

NEW YORK — Commodities tumbled the most since November as industrial metals fell to the lowest in almost six years and crude oil had the biggest decline in five months after mounting turmoil in China and Greece suggested demand will weaken.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials fell 2.7 percent to close at 99.11, the biggest drop since Nov. 28. The London Metal Exchange's gauge of six prices dropped 2 percent to 2,558.3, the lowest since July 21, 2009. West Texas Intermediate plunged 7.7 percent, the most since Feb. 4.

US-traded Chinese stocks plummeted the most in four years as the government's latest support measures failed to stem the rout in mainland equity markets. Greece's prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, was given hours to come up with a plan to keep his country in the euro and stave off economic disaster.

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"Investors will be thinking 'safety first' " following news in China and Greece, Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, said in a note.

China, the world's top consumer of energy and metals, suspended initial public offerings and brokerages pledged to buy shares in measures aimed at halting the steepest three-week stock plunge since 1992.

The Bloomberg commodity gauge has dropped 5 percent this year.

On the LME, copper for delivery in three months plunged 2.9 percent, the biggest decline since Jan. 14. Nickel fell 2.5 percent.

"The China risk now looks to be becoming a bigger issue than Greece," Will Yun, commodity analyst at Hyundai Futures Corp. in Seoul, said. "The issue is the stock bubble on top of cooling demand."

WTI futures for August delivery fell $4.40 to $52.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. US gasoline and heating oil also slumped.

"We're getting our summer correction, and I don't know where it will stop," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Mass.

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"We could soon be looking at a $50-a-barrel ceiling."