Oil prices fall as China's economy weakens
Oil prices fell Monday as weak China economic data intensified concerns about lowered demand from the world's second-largest economy and largest crude importer, and as Saudi Aramco said it was ready to increase oil output, Reuters and The Associated Press report.
International benchmark Brent crude fell 1.2 percent to $97.01 per barrel following a 1.5 percent drop on Friday. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell $1.06, or 1.2 percent, to $91.03, after falling 2.4 percent on Friday. Government data in China showed that the country's economy unexpectedly slowed in July and refinery output dropped to its lowest since March 2020, suggesting oil demand was falling after high fuel prices forced consumers to cut back.
China's central bank cut a key interest rate Monday to boost growth.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What will the US economy look like in 2026?Today’s Big Question Wall Street is bullish, but uncertain
-
TikTok secures deal to remain in USSpeed Read ByteDance will form a US version of the popular video-sharing platform
-
Unemployment rate ticks up amid fall job lossesSpeed Read Data released by the Commerce Department indicates ‘one of the weakest American labor markets in years’
-
How will China’s $1 trillion trade surplus change the world economy?Today’s Big Question Europe may impose its own tariffs
-
Is $140,000 the real poverty line?Feature Financial hardship is wearing Americans down, and the break-even point for many families keeps rising
-
Fast food is no longer affordable for low-income AmericansThe explainer Cheap meals are getting farther out of reach
-
Shein in Paris: has the fashion capital surrendered its soul?Talking Point Despite France’s ‘virtuous rhetoric’, the nation is ‘renting out its soul to Chinese algorithms’
-
US mints final penny after 232-year runSpeed Read Production of the one-cent coin has ended
