Oil Futures Fall After China PMI Slides Further Into Contraction

0733 GMT – Oil prices edge lower after weak Chinese economic data. Brent crude oil slips 0.2% to $73.56 a barrel while WTI declines 0.2% to $69.43 a barrel. The losses add to a sharp 4.4% drop for both crude varieties on Tuesday. Concerns that the U.S. debt deal could fail to make it through Congress, and uncertainty about what OPEC+ may do at a meeting this weekend have weighed on oil prices, Vivek Dhar, director of commodities research at Commonwealth Bank, says in a note. Chinese PMI data showed a slowdown in manufacturing activity in May, exacerbating those concerns. “Markets are worried that China’s commodity demand is weakening more quickly than anticipated,” Dhar says. (william.horner@wsj.com)