PakMonitor - News Around The Globe : asia

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<span class="upper">Singapore, Aug 14:  
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Oil prices fell in Asia today following a surprise 
increase in US commercial crude oil stockpiles and a slew of soft 
economic data from leading energy consumers.</div>
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US 
benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery eased 28 
cents to $97.31, while Brent crude for September delivery shed 50 cents 
to $103.78 in mid-morning trade.</div>
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A build in US inventories for the first time in seven weeks weighed on prices, analysts said.</div>
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US
 crude oil inventories rose 1.4 million barrels to 367.0 million in the 
week ending August 8, the Department of Energy said. Crude oil supplies 
had contracted by roughly 22 million barrels over the prior six weeks.</div>
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The
 increase in inventories surprised analysts, who expected a decline of 
1.7 million barrels, according to a survey by Dow Jones Newswires.</div>
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Benchmark
 prices also weakened due to “soft economic data from Europe and China”,
 said Sanjeev Gupta, head of the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at 
consultancy firm EY.</div>
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A string of disappointing 
Chinese data released on Wednesday raised concerns about growth in the 
world’s second largest economy and top energy consumer.</div>
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The
 Asian giant’s bank lending plunged to 385.2 billion yuan ($62.5 
billion) in July, a dramatic decline from June’s 1.08 trillion yuan as 
the weakening property sector hit the demand for loans.</div>
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Also,
 data for industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment 
were in line with expectations but slightly slower from the previous 
month’s data.</div>
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In Germany, investment sentiment fell 
to its lowest level in nearly two years in August amid concerns about 
the economic fallout from current global crises, a survey found on 
Tuesday.</div>
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The widely watched investor confidence index
 calculated by the ZEW economic institute fell by 18.5 points to 8.6 
points in August, its lowest level since December 2012.</div>
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Analysts had expected only a minor fall.</div>
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Germany,
 Europe’s largest economy, is the world’s eighth largest energy 
consumer, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).</div>

Crude oil prices become down in Asia

Singapore, Aug 14: Oil prices fell in Asia today following a surprise increase in US commercial crude oil stockpiles and a slew of soft economic data from leading energy consumers. US benchmark …