London – Oil chop down on Monday as Chinese equities weakened, with a firmer dollar and global oversupply weighing on prices.
The U.S. Labor Day holiday helped keep trade thin.
China’s main indexes closed down on Monday as investors sold shares in the aftermath of a four-day market holiday, during which further restrictions on futures trading were announced.
Brent crude for October was down 70 cents at 48.91 dollars a barrel. U.S. crude for October was down 60 cents at 45.45 dollars.
“For commodities, the key demand-side figure to care about is not China’s GDP growing at seven per cent instead of nine or 10 per cent, it is the manufacturing price index.
“The index has been falling for more than 40 months in a row,” JBC Energy said.
Surprise gain in U.S. crude stocks of 4.7 million barrels in the week to Aug. 28 is the biggest one-week rise since April.
A firmer U.S. dollar also hurt oil prices by making the commodity more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The year-long decline in oil prices caused more than 5,000 job losses in Britain’s North Sea oil and gas sector since late last year, the country’s Oil and Gas Authority said on Monday.
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Investors are awaiting euro zone second-quarter gross domestic product figures on Tuesday, followed by monthly oil supply and demand data from U.S. and global energy authorities for further oil direction. (Reuters/NAN)