Brent crude is in a bear market

Brent crude oil is in a bear market.

On Monday afternoon, the international benchmark of oil prices fell more than 2% to close at $53.47 per barrel in futures trading. A bear market is roughly defined as a 20% drop from recent highs.

Brent now joins West Texas Intermediate crude oil - the US benchmark - in a bear market. On Thursday, WTI clocked a 20% drop from six-weeks highs, and today, slipped to a fresh four-month low of nearly $47 per barrel.

Concerns about market oversupply have plagued oil prices, which rebounded from year-to-date lows in April and May following the oil crash that began about a year ago.

And as we highlighted on Monday, energy companies are bracing for even lower oil prices, with plans to layoff more people and sell more assets - just like they did in the aftermath of the recent price plunge.

Here's a chart showing the slump in Brent crude from recent highs:

Investing.com