SINGAPORE - Oil fell for a third day, the longest losing streak in six weeks, on concern economic growth in the United States and China, the world's two largest users, will slow.
Oil extended Tuesday's 3 percent decline after the Conference Board said its leading economic index for China rose more slowly in April than previously estimated. The board's US confidence index in June was lower than all forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.
Asian stocks on Wednesday dropped the most in more than two weeks.
"Everyone understands now that it will take more time than expected for the economy of America to get better," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at broker Newedge Group in Tokyo. "Oil is in a downtrend after it failed to reach $80."
Crude for August delivery fell as much as 61 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $75.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $75.71 at 1:52 pm Singapore time.
On Tuesday, the contract declined $2.31 to $75.94, the biggest one-day drop since June 4.
Oil, down 9.6 percent since the end of March, is heading for its first quarterly decline since 2008.
Futures have fallen 4.6 percent this year. The market is in the longest decline since a six-day drop through May 18.
Technical indicators
Crude has declined below technical indicators used by analysts, according to Hasegawa at Newedge.
Oil is below the 50-day moving average at $76.30 a barrel, along with the 100-day at $78.67 and 200-day at $77.18.
"This means we may fall further if some bearish news comes into the market," he said. "It looks weak technically."
The measure of China's economy compiled by the New York-based Conference Board rose 0.3 percent in April, less than the 1.7 percent gain it reported June 15. The research group corrected the outlook after a "calculation error" for total floor space on which construction began.
"Crude has been shellacked due to confidence around the world eroding," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney. "The revision in confidence was a concern."
The Conference Board reported its US confidence index slumped to 52.9 in June from a revised 62.7 in May, as Americans became pessimistic about the outlook for the labor market and the economy. The median forecast of 71 economists' estimates in the Bloomberg survey called for a decline to 62.5.
Asian equities fell for a second day, extending a global rout after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped to its lowest level since October.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 1.4 percent to 112.42 as of 2:08 pm in Tokyo.
Oil also dropped on predictions Hurricane Alex, moving west across the southern Gulf of Mexico, will miss production areas.
US crude inventories declined 3.4 million barrels in the week ended June 25, according to a report on Tuesday from the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute (API).
Bloomberg News
