Brent crude slid below $110 a barrel on Thursday, dragged down by a survey that pointed to slower growth in China, the world’s second largest oil consumer.
Oil fell along with Asian equities after manufacturing activity in China shrank again in February to the lowest in seven months, while employment fell at the fastest pace in five years, a preliminary private survey showed.
“That is going to really knock the wind out of the sails of risk assets this afternoon and probably for the next 24 hours, because it is a substantial miss on estimates. I expect that it is going to have a negative impact across oil markets,” said Ben Le Brun, a market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney.
April Brent crude had slipped 62 cents to $109.85 a barrel by 0723 GMT, after settling at its highest level this year on Wednesday. US crude futures for March delivery edged down 19 cents to $103.12 a barrel.
