
Oil dropped 2.2 percent after China said inflation was 4.6 percent in December and that the economy of the world’s biggest energy-consuming country grew 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter. Prices also declined after the Energy Department said that U.S. crude supplies rose for the first time in seven weeks.
“Worries about what actions China will take to slow the economy are sending the market lower,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. “Any
Chinese move could lower demand growth.”
Crude oil for February delivery fell $2 to settle at $88.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest decline since Jan. 4. Oil is up 14 percent from a year ago.
February futures expired today. The more active March contract slipped $2.22, or 2.4 percent, to settle at $89.59.
Brent crude oil for March settlement dropped $1.58, or 1.6 percent, to end the session at $96.58 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. March Brent futures traded at a $6.99 premium to the Nymex contract for the same month.
China’s economic expansion topped the 9.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists and compared with a 9.6 percent annual gain in the previous three months, a statistics bureau report showed. more ...
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