Investing.com - It’s China data again that’s undermining oil, even as China-U.S. negotiations seem to be giving the market hope for a trade deal.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for New York-traded crude, and London’s Brent, the global gauge for oil, ended lower for the first time in five days on Monday as data released in China reinforced signs that its economy is slowing.
The decline was partly limited by President Donald Trump’s remarks that he expected to sign ahead of schedule a significant part of the planned U.S. trade deal with China ahead of schedule.
WTI settled down 85 cents, or 1.5%, at $55.81 per barrel.
Brent closed the official U.S. trading session down 45 cents, or 0.7%, at $61.57.
WTI gained 5.4% last week while Brent advanced by 4.4%.
Profits at Chinese industrial companies fell for the second straight month in September as producer prices continued their slide, data showed on Monday, highlighting the impact of a slowing economy and protracted U.S. trade war on corporate balance sheets.
“Near-term demand worries and seasonally building inventories will continue to place a cap on any bullish headlines,” TD Securities said in a note on oil.
Russia’s energy ministry, meanwhile, said that OPEC and its oil-exporting allies, known as OPEC+, would factor in the slowdown of U.S. oil output growth when they meet to discuss their output agreement in December.
Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin also said it was premature to talk about deeper production cuts when the OPEC meeting was still more than a month away.