– China data ‘not helping’ –
The news dragged WTI down $7.54 in New York on Friday, compared with the settlement price on Wednesday, to end at $66.15 a barrel. US floor trading was closed Thursday for a holiday.
Brent had settled at $70.15 on Friday, down $2.43 from Thursday’s close.
OPEC has come under pressure from its poorer members, including Venezuela and Ecuador, to trim production as slumping prices have eaten into government revenues and raised fears over their economies.
But the group’s powerful Gulf members, led by kingpin Saudi Arabia, resisted the calls unless they are guaranteed market share – particularly in the United States, where rising production of shale oil has contributed to the global glut.
McCarthy said weak Chinese manufacturing data early Monday was “doing nothing to help oil prices”.
The official purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector in the world’s second-biggest economy skidded to an eight-month low of 50.3 in November, from 50.8 in October, the government said.
It was the weakest reading since a similar 50.3 reading in March.
The index tracks manufacturing activity in China’s factories and workshops and is a closely watched indicator of the health of the economy. A reading above 50 indicates growth, while anything below points to contraction.
Tumbling energy prices scalped energy firms, but stocks of airlines, which count fuel as their major expense, soared.
Among the biggest losers were Sydney-listed Santos, which fell almost seven percent, while BHP Billiton lost 3.4 percent and Woodside shed 4.9 percent. In Hong Kong PetroChina was 2.2 percent lower and CNOOC fell 3.3 percent.
In Tokyo Japan Airlines added 5.9 percent and rival ANA gained 4.3 percent, while in Hong Kong Cathay Pacific rose 4.3 percent and Korean Airlines in Seoul was up 6.1 percent. Singapore Airlines advanced 0.46 percent.
