The tumbling price of oil hammered commodity-dependent currencies as well as shares in oil and gas companies Friday, a day after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left its output target unchanged , diminishing hope of any imminent respite for the ailing commodity. In early trade, Brent crude was an additional 1% lower at $71.86 a barrel, its weakest level in four years, having already plummeted nearly 7% on Thursday. It later picked up slightly. Analysts had estimated OPEC would need to take 1 million to 1.5 million barrels a day off the market to support oil prices, which have fallen by more than 30% since the summer, but its members didn’t bow to the market pressure. Russia’s ruble, which this year has also been pummeled by geopolitical tensions and resulting sanctions, hit yet another all-time low against the dollar, while fellow oil-linked currencies such as the Canadian […]