Oil prices dip as China data underwhelms; dollar rebound weighs
Investing.com-- Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Tuesday as a rebound in the dollar weighed, while weaker-than-expected trade data from China also raised concerns over sluggish demand in the world's largest oil importer.
Crude prices had risen slightly from multi-month lows on Monday, encouraged by commitments from Saudi Arabia and Russia to maintain their ongoing supply reductions until the end of the year.
The U.S. also announced plans to buy three million more barrels of oil to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, indicating more tightness in global supplies.
But this was largely offset by a rebound in the dollar, while traders also continued to price in a smaller risk premium from the Israel-Hamas war. Uncertainty over crude demand also weighed, especially ahead of key readings on Chinese oil imports.
Weak economic readings from the euro zone and UK also raised concerns that slowing economic growth will weigh on oil demand.
Brent oil futures fell 0.4% to $84.83 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.4% to $80.52 a barrel by 22:22 ET (03:22 GMT).
Both contracts were nursing steep losses over the past week, amid growing bets that the Israel-Hamas war will not disrupt Middle Eastern supplies.
Data on Tuesday showed that China's exports shrank more than expected in October, while the country's trade surplus was at its worst level in 17 months.
But imports unexpectedly grew during the month, highlighting some improvement in local demand as Beijing rolled out more stimulus measures.
Still, the prolonged weakness in exports signaled more headwinds for China's biggest economic engines, which in turn could stymie growth in the country and dent oil demand.
Chinese fuel consumption has remained
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