Oil prices fell on Thursday, as the US dollar rose against most majors, amid fears over the escalating coronavirus crisis.

Investors are anticipating the OPEC-Plus meeting by the end of this month, to review the latest developments in the market as some countries are facing a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

OPEC-Plus will also discuss demand and supply amid expectations of delaying the planned output increase in the coming period.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.2% to 92.4 points as of 18:05 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.7 points and a low of 92.4 points.

As of 18:05 GMT, WTI crude December futures fell 0.8% to $41.4 a barrel, after hitting a high of $41.8 and a low of $41.08.

Brent January futures fell 1% to $43.9 a barrel, after hitting a high of $44.5 and a low of $43.7.

Palladium prices fell on Thursday, as the US dollar rose against its peers, amid focus on the Covid-19 vaccines.

The American company and the German firm BioNTech announced on Wednesday that the recent data from the final phase of the clinical trials on their Covid-19 vaccine showed it was 95% effective.

While Moderna announced on Monday that its coronavirus vaccine was more than 94.5% effective in preventing the disease.

But the markets remain uncertain about these vaccines' safety, distribution methods, and the launch date in countries around the world.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.4% to 92.6 points as of 14:24 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.7 points and a low of 92.4 points.

Palladium December futures fell 2.55% to $2,294 an ounce as of 14:25 GMT, with a high of $2,341.8 and a low of $2,293.

Most of the US stock indices fell on Thursday, after the release of data showed that the US unemployment claims rose for the first time in 5 weeks.

The US Labor Department showed that initial unemployment claims rose to 742,000 from 711,000, worse than forecasts of 707,000.

The rising coronavirus infections in the US and other countries increased prospects for reimposing lockdown restrictions, which will impact economies once again.

The International Monetary Fund has warned of a slowdown in the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic impact, despite news of promising vaccines.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.1% or 16 points to 29,421 as of 14:55 GMT, and S&P 500 fell 1 point to 3566, while Nasdaq rose 0.2% or 30 points to 11,831.

Oil prices continued to fall as the US market opened on Thursday, heading for the second loss in 3 days, on growing US oversupply concerns, after a build in US crude inventories for the second straight week, in addition to rising oil production levels, which comes amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus, especially in Europe and North and South America.

US crude fell 1.1% to $41.11 a barrel, after opening at $41.55, and hit a high of $41.88, and Brent fell 0.8% to $43.80 a barrel, after opening at $44.15, and hit a high of $44.56. 

US crude closed higher by 0.6% yesterday, and Brent crude futures rose 0.8%, posting the second daily gain in 3 days, after successive positive news about Covid-19 vaccine candidates.

The US Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that crude inventories rose 800,000 barrels to 489.5 million barrels during the week ending November 13, missing forecasts of a rise by 1.7 million barrels.

While the US production rose about 400,000 barrels last week, to a total of 10.9 million barrels per day, after operations restarted at the Gulf of Mexico following the end of a wave of hurricanes.

The second wave of Covid-19 continues to spread broadly across Europe, the US, and South America, with infections rising to record levels, even higher than the first wave, which led governments to reimpose lockdowns, weighing down on fuel demand.