Investing.com — Oil prices fell sharply Monday on concerns that the collapse of SVB Financial will have longer-term repercussions for the U.S. banking sector, potentially stifling economic activity going forward.

By 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT), U.S. crude futures traded 4.9% lower at $72.87 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 4.5% to $79.03 a barrel.

Sentiment was already weak in the oil sector, with the two benchmarks posting hefty losses last week on fears that further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve would push the U.S. economy, the largest consumer of crude in the world, into recession later this year.