Oil prices fall amid concerns about Chinese demand, tensions in Middle East

(MENAFN) In early Asian trading on Tuesday, oil prices continued their decline from the previous session, influenced by worries about diminishing demand from China and reduced market fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East. Brent crude futures were down by 12 cents, or 0.15 percent, trading at USD79.78 per barrel as of 0033 GMT, while U.S. crude futures fell 14 cents, or 0.18 percent, to USD75.67 per barrel.

Recent economic data from China has unsettled the markets, with poll revealing that China's manufacturing sector contracted for the third consecutive month in July. Furthermore, Citi downgraded its China growth forecast for the year to 4.8 percent from 5 percent, citing weaker-than-expected second-quarter growth and a further slowdown in economic activity in July.

The previous session saw oil prices drop by 2 percent, partly due to news that Israel would tailor its military response to a Hezbollah rocket attack on the Golan Heights to avoid escalating into a full-scale conflict. This approach was further supported by U.S. diplomatic efforts to restrain Israel's retaliatory actions, with a focus on preventing strikes against major civilian targets in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. 

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