Crude oil down on weakening global economic data

06-Sep-11

Crude oil prices in New York dropped by over two dollars, hit by weak economic data in the US, fears about Eurozone debt crisis and a slowdown in China. US light crude plunged to US$84, while Brent crude shed over US$1.5 to settle at US$110.6. This has come after data showed that the US economy added no new jobs in August, a much worse reading than the expected figure of 70,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged in August at 9.1%. Global growth concerns have been exacerbated further by the weaker than expected HSBC China Services PMI for August which dropped to 50.6 from 53.5 in July. China has been urged to rebalance its export-driven economy, rely on greater domestic demand, increase consumption and rise to meet its most important short term challenge - inflation .