Investing.com - Oil prices dropped on Friday after Chinese manufacturing and U.S. employment gauges missed expectations and fueled concerns over the strength of global economic recovery.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in September traded down 0.69% at $97.49 a barrel during U.S. trading. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $97.10 a barrel and a high of $98.09 a barrel.
The September contract settled down 2.09% at $98.17 a barrel on Thursday.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $96.26 a barrel, the low from Feb. 3, and resistance at $102.10 a barrel, Monday's high.
The Labor Department reported earlier that the U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July, missing expectations for an increase of 233,000. The number of jobs added in June was revised up to a 298,000 gain from a previously estimated rise of 288,000.
The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 6.2% last month from 6.1% in June. Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged in July.
Elsewhere, the revised Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose to 81.8 in July from 81.3 in June, missing expectations for a reading of 82.0, which also watered down oil prices.
Separately in the U.S., the Institute of Supply Management reported that the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 57.1 in July from 55.3 in June, beating expectations for an increase to 56.0, which cushioned losses somewhat, though soft Chinese data kept prices in negative territory.
Official data showed that China's manufacturing PMI rose to 51.7 from 51.0 in July, beating market expectations for a 51.4 reading.
Still, China's HSBC final manufacturing PMI ticked down to 51.7 last month from 52.0. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged, which watered down demand for crude.
Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for September delivery were down 0.94% and trading at US$105.03 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$7.54 a barrel.