NEW YORK, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices fell on Thursday as risk-aversion sentiment increased in the wake of soaring COVID-19 infections in major economies.

The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery shed 1.22 U.S. dollars to settle at 36.17 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery decreased 1.47 dollars to close at 37.65 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The moves followed a major setback on the oil market that saw both crude benchmarks plunge more than 5 percent.

"Risk aversion on the financial markets has increased dramatically of late in view of the record-high number of new COVID-19 cases and the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. elections," analysts at Commerzbank Research, said in a note Thursday.

"The sell-off on the stock markets and the stronger U.S. dollar have also put massive pressure on oil prices," they added.

Risk assets including the U.S. equities suffered noticeable volatility this week due to coronavirus fears.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.58 percent in late trading on Thursday, following a 0.5-percent gain in the prior session. Enditem

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