Oil falls on weak China data, stronger US dollar
Oil prices fell on Wednesday on a stronger U.S. dollar and as weak data from top oil importer China raised demand fears.
Brent crude futures for August delivery were down 73 cents, or 0.99%, to $72.98 a barrel at 1353 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell 90 cents, or 1.3%, to $68.56.
Both benchmarks fell by over $2 earlier in the session and by more than 4% on Tuesday.
China’s manufacturing activity contracted faster than expected in May on weakening demand, with the official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) down to 48.8 from 49.2 in April. The outcome lagged a forecast of 49.4.
