Brent crude eased under $110 a barrel on Monday after Chinese manufacturing data missed market expectations, signaling possibly slower oil demand growth in the world’s second-largest consumer. China’s official purchasing managers index for March came in a 50.9, the highest in 11 months, although a NEWS.GNOM.ES poll showed economists expected an increase to 52.0 from February’s five-month low of 50.1. A separate PMI survey by HSBC put the index at 51.6, mostly in line with an initial reading of 51.7, spurred by a rise in new orders. “The data came in below market expectations, which could indicate that oil demand growth may not expand quite as quickly as we would like it to,� said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks and Opinion, based in Houston. “But China’s still growing and that continues to be an underlying support factor long term for the market. Whether they are at 6 percent or 7 percent they are growing.� Brent crude for May delivery was off 54 cents at $109.48 a barrel by 0259 GMT, after slipping 1 percent in the quarter just ended. In early trade, the Brent contract hit a session high of $110.20, the loftiest since March 15. U.S. crude was down 51 cents at $96.72 a barrel, after hitting a six-week high of $97.80 earlier in the session. West Texas Intermediate crude gained nearly 6 percent the January-March period.

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