By Christian Schmollinger and Ben Sharples June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Oil fell for a third day, its longest losing streak in six weeks, on concern economic growth in the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest users, will slow. “Everyone understands now that it will take more time than expected for the economy of America to get better,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo. “Oil is in a downtrend after it failed to reach $80.” Crude oil for August delivery fell as much as 61 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $75.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $75.86 at 12:24 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract declined $2.31 to $75.94, the biggest one-day drop since June 4. Oil is heading for its first quarterly decline since 2008, losing 9.4 percent since the end of March. Futures have fallen 4.5 percent this year. Crude has dropped 4 percent in the past three days, the longest since a six-day decline through May 18. Technical Indicators Crude prices have declined below technical indicators used by analysts, said Newedge’s Hasegawa. Oil is below the 50-day moving average at $76.30 a barrel, along with the 100-day at $78.66 and 200-day at $77.18. “This means we may fall further if some bearish news comes into the market,” he said. “It looks weak technically.” The measure of China’s economy compiled by the New York- based Conference Board rose 0.3 percent in April, less than the 1.7 percent gain it reported June 15. The research group corrected the outlook after a “calculation error” for total floor space on which construction began. “Crude has been shellacked due to confidence around the world eroding,” said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney. “The revision in confidence was a concern.” The board reported its U.S. confidence index slumped to 52.9 in June from a revised 62.7 in May, as Americans became pessimistic about the outlook for the labor market and the economy. The median forecast of 71 economists’ estimates in the Bloomberg survey called for a decline to 62.5. Asian equities fell for a second day, extending a global rout after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped to its lowest level since October. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 1.4 percent to 112.31 as of 12:29 p.m. in Tokyo. Hurricane Alex Oil also dropped on predictions that Hurricane Alex, moving northwest across the southern Gulf of Mexico, will miss oil- producing areas. It’s forecast to make landfall in Mexico, just south of the U.S. border, late today as a hurricane, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm has halted about 25 percent of crude production in the Gulf of Mexico and 9 percent of natural-gas output, the U.S. government said yesterday. U.S. crude inventories declined 3.4 million barrels last week, according to a report from the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute. Distillate Supplies Distillate fuel supplies, including diesel and heating oil, rose 3.9 million barrels to 158.7 million, the API said. Gasoline stockpiles fell 908,000 barrels to 220.2 million. Oil-supply totals from the API and Energy Department moved in the same direction 75 percent of the time over the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Crude supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the New York futures, dropped by 1.9 million barrels to 36 million, the biggest decline since the week of Sept. 11 Brent crude for August delivery fell as much as 63 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $74.81 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. It was at $75.28 at 12:24 p.m. Singapore time. The contract yesterday fell $2.15, or 2.8 percent, to $75.44. --Editors: Ang Bee Lin, Jane Lee. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell in Singapore at crussell7@bloomberg.net.

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