Crude dips on Chinese manufacturing data, U.S. budget woes
Published Mar 01, 2013 12:53PM ET
Investors also avoided the commodity due to U.S. budgetary uncertainties that could cut into growth rates later this year.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at USD90.55 a barrel on Friday, down 1.63%, off from a session high of USD91.97 and up from an earlier session low of USD90.30.
China reported earlier that the country's February purchasing managers' index fell to 50.1 in February from 50.4 in January, defying economists' expectations for a 50.5 reading.
While readings above 50 signal expansion, the decline caught markets off guard and sent oil prices falling.
China is the world’s second-largest consumer of oil trailing the U.S., where budgetary issues continued on Friday.
Automatic spending cuts are due to take effect in the U.S. later in the day, which could affect many federal programs and end jobs, shaving as much as a half a percentage point off growth rates for this year, according to some estimates.
Uncertainty as to whether President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans can find common ground to shield the economy from such sharp fiscal adjustments kept investors camped out in the dollar and away from growth-sensitive energy commodities.
Elsewhere on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery were down 0.91% at USD110.36 a barrel, up USD19.81 from its U.S. counterpart.
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Written By: Investing.com
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