Oil benchmarks slip

- Advertisement -

BEIJING- Oil prices slipped in early Asian trading on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session, over concerns about Chinese demand and as the market shrugged off the risk of conflict escalating in the Middle East.

Brent crude oil futures fell by 12 cents or 0.15 percent to $79.78 a barrel. US crude futures were down 14 cents, or 0.18 percent , at $75.67 a barrel.

A raft of disappointing economic news out of China has shaken markets recently. China’s manufacturing activity likely shrank for a third month in July, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.

- Advertisement -

Also on Monday, Citi cut China’s growth forecast to 4.8 percent from 5 percent after its growth missed analyst estimates in the second quarter, noting that economic activity softened further in July.

The market is watching an upcoming meeting of China’s top decision-making body, the Politburo, expected to take place this week, that could elicit further economic policy support.

But expectations are limited after the Third Plenum, a key policy meeting in mid-July, largely reiterated existing economic policy goals and failed to lift market sentiment.

Oil fell 2 percent in the previous trading session after Israel signaled that its response to a Hezbollah rocket strike in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday would be calculated to avoid dragging the Middle East into an all-out war.

That was reinforced by a US diplomatic push, reported by Reuters on Monday, to constrain Israel’s response and prevent it from striking either the Lebanon capital of Beirut or any major civilian infrastructure in retaliation.

Author

- Advertisement -

Share post: