Investing.com - Crude oil futures moved lower in Asian trade Wednesday, following the release of data showing a slowdown in China’s economy and ahead of a change in regulations on commodities contract purchases.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for November delivery traded at USD88.22 a barrel during early Asian trade, falling 0.36%, after hitting a daily high of USD86.69.
In its Tuesday report, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that the nation’s gross domestic product for the third quarter rose 9.1% from a year earlier, down from a second-quarter reading of 9.5% growth and slightly below the 9.2% economist’s forecast.
China’s GDP expansion for the quarter was the slowest since the second quarter of 2009.
Oil demand in China, the world’s second largest energy consumer, rose 1% in September to 8.9 million barrels a day, the nation’s slowest growth rate this year.
Adding to downward pressure on oil futures was the announcement late Tuesday that Moody’s Investors Service had reduced Spain’s investment grade to A1 from AA2, with a negative outlook.
On October 14 Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spain’s rating, following a Fitch Rating’s cut of Spain to its fourth highest investment grade on October 7.
Moody's also put France on three months notice saying that "pressure from weaker debt metrics," could leave the country with a negative credit outlook and may even result in a downgrade.
Separately, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday voted to limit the number of commodities contracts that investors can hold in agriculture, energy or metals contracts, in a move designed to curb abusive speculative buying.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that producer price inflation rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in September, up from a flat reading in August, and higher than market expectations of 0.2% for the period.
The more closely watched producer price index, excluding food and energy costs, gained 0.2% in September, above expectations of a 0.1% rise and up from 0.1% in August.
A rising U.S. dollar contributed to falling oil futures, as dollar-denominated futures contracts tend to fall when the dollar rises.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, gained 0.16% to 77.43.
On the ICE Futures Exchange Brent oil futures for November delivery retreated 0.40% to trade at USD110.96.