Oil dips on China worry ahead of U.S. retail sales, Fed minutes
Investing.com — The oil rally is beginning to feel heavy.
Crude prices slid on Monday on persistent worries about post-pandemic growth in China and as players adjusted positioning ahead of Tuesday’s data on U.S. retail sales and Wednesday’s Federal Reserve minutes on the central bank’s July policy meeting.
In China, economic data for July mostly trailed market expectations. Among the worst readings were bank loans, which slid to a 14-year low. Consumer and producer prices also declined, and exports slid the most since February 2020. The stumbling Chinese economy and lack of any effective stimulus measures have left the yuan against the dollar, which rallied Monday, adding to the weight of commodities, particularly oil.
With 30 minutes to Monday’s close, New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude was down 36 cents, or 0.7%, to $82.83 per barrel. The U.S. crude benchmark hit a 9-month high of $84.89 on Thursday and is up 20% over the past seven months on Saudi maneuvers to get prices up with production cuts.
London-based Brent crude was down 34 cents, or 0.6%, to $86.47. Like WTI, the global crude benchmark touched a new milestone on Thursday, reaching a seven-month high of $88.10. In under two months, Brent is up 18%.
U.S. retail sales for July are expected to show a pickup in demand at the start of the third quarter after a smaller-than-expected increase in June.
The Fed’s minutes, meanwhile, will reveal deliberations by its policy-makers on the Federal Open Market Committee, which led to last month’s rate hike as markets look for signals on what the central bank could decide when it meets again in September.
The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points last month and left the door open to another hike in
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