Oil prices fall as Chinese manufacturing weakens

PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil fell toward $96 a barrel Monday, July 1 as weak Chinese manufacturing raised the prospect of subdued demand, The Associated Press reports.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was down 12 cents at $96.44 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 49 cents to end Friday at $96.56.

China's manufacturing weakened again in June amid a credit crunch and slower U.S. and European orders, two surveys showed Monday, adding to signs that growth in the world's second-largest economy is decelerating.

Oil's fall was braked by better economic news from Japan, where business confidence among major manufacturers turned positive for the first time in nearly two years.

Brent crude was down 25 cents at $101.91 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.