West TX Oil Around $48 as China Data Weighs

U.S. crude futures dropped towards $48 a barrel on Monday after last week rising for the first time in eight weeks, with weak Chinese housing data keeping prices under pressure.

U.S. crude for February delivery was off 14 cents at $48.55 a barrel by 0101 GMT, after hitting a low of $48.37. The contract, which expires on Tuesday, climbed 0.7 percent last week.  March Brent crude slipped 22 cents to $49.95 a barrel.  Trading liquidity is expected to be lean with U.S. markets shut for the Martin Luther King holiday.

China’s new home prices fell significantly in December for a fourth straight month even as year-end sales volumes surged. Sunday’s gloomy data foreshadowed weak economic figures set for Tuesday, with expansion expected to slow to 7.2 percent, the weakest since the depths of the global financial crisis.

CNBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.