Oil Slips As China Manufacturing Weakens

Oil........
Crude oil futures slipped below $97 a barrel in the Asia electronic session today as a further slowdown in manufacturing activity in China raised demand concerns from the world's second-largest oil consumer.
Asian markets on Monday began a new quarter on a weak footing as a further slowdown in manufacturing activity in China, South Korea and Taiwan raised concerns about the health of those economies.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.6% as the country began a new financial year. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gave up 0.5%, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.2%, and Taiwan's Taiex shed 0.3%. China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.4% in choppy trading, resuming its downtrend after snapping a seven-day losing streak on Friday. Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday.
The day's broad losses came as two separate surveys in China showed a further loss of momentum in factory activity. An officially sponsored reading of the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for June dropped to 50.1 from 50.8 in May. Another survey by HSBC showed the monthly PMI falling to 48.2 in June from 49.2 in May.
Light sweet crude futures for delivery in August are trading down 20 cents at $ 96.36 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil futures rose 2.65% on the week. For the quarter, however, oil declined nearly 1%, as a combination of concerns over an end to the Fed's assets purchase program and fears over a deepening slowdown in China weighed.
Oil prices hit a session high of $97.82 a barrel on Friday, the strongest level since June 20, as a series of upbeat U.S. data releases during the week boosted optimism over the U.S. economic recovery.
MCX July crude oil futures may open today's session near Rs 5740 levels with support around Rs 5700 levels.
Oil traders now look ahead to this week's highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for indications of how the recovery in the U.S. labor market is progressing. Any improvement in the U.S. economy was likely to reinforce the view that the Federal Reserve will begin to taper its bond purchase program in the coming months.
Source by Commodity Insights