Oil prices fell on Tuesday, pressured by weak economic data from China, coinciding with concerns that China’s unexpected cut in key interest rates will not be enough to revive the economy.
Decisions to cut production from Saudi Arabia and Russia within the framework of OPEC + have contributed to pushing prices higher over the past seven weeks.
Data on industrial production and retail sales in China showed, on Tuesday, that the economy slowed further last month, adding to the pressure on already fragile growth, and prompting the authorities to cut interest rates to boost economic activities.
There are concerns that China may struggle to achieve this year’s 5 percent growth target without more fiscal stimulus.
On Tuesday, China announced an end to the growing unemployment rates among young people, in light of a series of disappointing economic indicators that raise concerns about the world’s second economy.
The new indicators add to a series of statistical figures in the past months, which showed the suffering of China’s economy to recover from the pandemic era.
Unemployment among young people aged between 16 and 24 years reached a record 21.3 percent in June.
Market movements
Brent crude futures fell $1.29, or 1.47%, to $84.94 a barrel by 14:55 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.46, or 1.77%, to $81.05 a barrel.
2023-08-15 15:00:20
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