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Oil falls on poor U.S. economic data, European concerns

Oil&Gas Materials 1 February 2012 03:44 (UTC +04:00)
Oil price dropped slightly on Tuesday as U.S. economic data disappointed investors and concerns about the European debt crisis lingered.
Oil falls on poor U.S. economic data, European concerns

Oil price dropped slightly on Tuesday as U.S. economic data disappointed investors and concerns about the European debt crisis lingered, Xinhua reported.

European Union countries agreed a new austerity treaty proposed by Germany. However, the uplift news was offset by severe jobless situations in euro zone as data suggested that the unemployment rate climbed to a new record high of 10.4 percent in the region.

Meanwhile, the rating agency Standard & Poor's warned to downgrade "a number of highly rated" G20 countries from 2015 if their governments fail to fix fiscal problems.

The concerns about the European debt crisis continued to pressure on the oil. On economic front, the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed that home prices lost 1.3 percent in November last year, which disappointed investors who had expected a less decline.

The Conference Board said consumer confidence in the U.S. fell to 61.1 in January after two consecutive monthly gains.

Also, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index fell to 60.2 in January, according to the Institute for Supply Management, suggesting that the manufacturing activities in Chicago area slowed.

The disappointing U.S. economic data raised concerns about the energy demands.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery lost 30 cents, or 0.3 percent to settle at 98.48 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude for March delivery gained 23 cents and settled at 110.98 dollars a barrel.

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