By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — U.S. crude-oil futures were flat Monday, coming off a more than 2% jump in the previous session on stronger-than-anticipated data from China. Crude oil for September delivery CLU3 -0.06% edged up 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $106.04 a barrel in electronic trade. The muted gain for oil came as the U.S. dollar DXY +0.27% advanced following last week’s loss of about 1% against major rivals. The market also received downbeat growth data from Japan, with the world’s third-largest oil consumer reporting annualized gross domestic product expanded 2.6% in the second quarter. That was well below expectations of 3.6% growth in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of analysts. Oil futures on Friday surged $2.57, or 2.5%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, driven by China’s report that industrial production in July rose 9.7%, the fastest pace since February. A day earlier, July trade data from China included a jump in crude imports. “It looked pretty shaky for a while. But Friday’s numbers from China suggest that a degree of stabilization is setting in,� said HSBC co-head of Asian economic research Frederic Neumann to clients Sunday. “This, if sustained, along with more positive news from advanced markets, should help curtail risks to emerging Asia over the coming quarters.� Neumann said the Asian region “still faces formidable adjustment challenges. All we got is a bit more time to put our house in order.� In China on Monday, equities stretched gains after daily newspaper South China Morning Post reported that Beijing was “quietly offering financial stimulus� to key cities and provinces to support the local economies. In other trade Monday, September Brent crude UK:LCOU3 -0.48% slipped 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $108.04 a barrel. September gasoline RBU3 -0.42% was unchanged at $2.91 a gallon, and September heating oil HOU3 -0.19% held at $2.99 a gallon. Natural gas for September delivery NGU13 +1.08% rose 3 cents, or 1%, to $3.26 per million British thermal units.

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