Oil down on weak economic data, US Fed chief’s speech in spotlight

Oil prices eased on Thursday amid disappointing economic data from key economies and as investors await a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday for clues on interest rates.

Brent crude fell 19 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $83.02 a barrel by 0619 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 24 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $78.65 a barrel.

Manufacturing data from a host of purchasing managers’ index (PMI) surveys on Wednesday painted a grim picture of the health of economies across the globe, raising demand concerns, analysts said.