(LONDON) Oil prices continued their small decline on Tuesday after the publication in China of a series of disappointing economic indicators for the month of July, reigniting fears among investors about the country’s demand.
Around 6:20 a.m. EST (12:20 p.m. Paris), a barrel of Brent North Sea oil, for delivery in October, lost 0.51% to 85.77 dollars, after having already given up 0 .7% the day before.
Its American equivalent, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in September, yielded 0.68% to 81.96 dollars, after a decline of 0.8% the day before.
“Disappointing key figures from China” lead to a small decline in prices, note analysts at Energi Danmark.
As China is the world’s largest importer of rough, the health of its economy is indeed a major driver of demand.
Chinese retail sales, the main indicator of household consumption, rose just 2.5% year on year last month, according to official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This figure, lower than expected by analysts, is a new sign of sluggish consumption in the country.
Industrial production also slowed in July (3.7% year on year), against 4.4% a month earlier.
After this series of disappointing indicators, China even suspended the monthly publication of its detailed youth unemployment figures on Tuesday, after a record high in recent months.
“China is not coming to the rescue (oil prices) anytime soon,” said John Evans of PVM Energy, emphasizing its “bleak” economic situation.
The day before, the fall on the stock market of the developer Country Garden, one of the largest real estate groups in China, had already revived investors’ concerns about the economic health of the country in the grip of a real estate crisis of unprecedented magnitude.
