Oil closes down 4%, ending below $80 for first time since October

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)
Crude-oil futures on Thursday ended at their lowest since October, hit by a stronger dollar and a spate of mostly negative global macroeconomic reports
Crude for August delivery , the new front-month contract, was off $3.25, or 4%, to settle at $78.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange
That was oil's sharpest loss, in percentage terms, since December