Oil Prices Slide 1% on Global Economic Growth Concerns

Investing.com – Oil prices slid about 1% on Tuesday in Asia as global growth worries continued to stoke concerns over future fuel demand and pulled oil prices lower.

International were at $62.07 per barrel at 1:31 AM ET (06:31 GMT), down 1.1%.

U.S. were at $53.55 per barrel, down 0.9%.

Weakening global economic data were cited as a headwind for oil prices. On Monday, China reported that its 2018 economic growth dropped to its slowest pace in nearly three decades, although analysts later pointed to the fact that the slowdown was in line with expectations and simply reflected a normal part of the economic cycle.

“Slowing manufacturing activity in China is likely weighing on demand,” said Singapore-based tanker brokerage Eastport in a Reuters report.

Just hours after the release of the GDP data, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced it is cutting its 2019 and 2020 global growth forecasts.

The IMF now projects a 3.5% growth rate worldwide for 2019 and 3.6% for 2020. These are 0.2 and 0.1% points below its last forecasts in October.

The fund cited China-U.S. trade disputes, a renewed tightening of financial conditions, a “no deal” Brexit and a deeper-than-anticipated slowdown in China as the reasons for the downgrade.

Meanwhile, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, warned on Tuesday that economic pressure will impact the job market.

“From the viewpoint of ‘changes’, the external environment is complex and austere,” said Meng Wei, spokeswoman at the NDRC.

“Within the changes, there is something to worry about, and there is downward pressure on the economy. To a certain extent, the pressure will be passed onto jobs,” Meng added.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.