Oil
prices fell on Monday’s trading, driven by negative Chinese data highlighting
the fallout from the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
As
of 11:06 GMT, Brent crude futures slumped 0.79 percent at $63.88 a barrel after
hitting a high of $63.91.
The
retreat today came after this gains, of about 3 percent, locked last week
thanks to news of increased production cuts by OPEC and its allies.
Crude
oil WTI futures was down by 0.91 percent at $58.66 a barrel, after a 7 percent
increase last week.
The data
released on Sunday showed that China's exports tumbled for the fourth
consecutive month in a row that fell in violation of analysts' expectations
last month, while imports recorded their first rise in seven months.
Data
released by the Chinese Customs Authority on Sunday revealed that the country's
exports fell by 1.1 percent in November compared to the same period last year
and compared with a decline of 0.9 percent the previous month.
Analysts
estimated that exports from the world's second largest economy would rise by
about 1 percent last month.
As
for China's imports, it rose by about 0.3 percent last month year, the first rise
since last April, where imports were estimated to decline by about 1.8 percent
last month.
According
to the data, China's trade surplus was $38.73 billion in November, compared
with the previous month's $42.81 billion surplus.
The
trade surplus of the world's second largest economy came last month, reflecting
expectations of a rise to $46.30 billion.
Last
week, OPEC and its non-member allies decided to deepen oil production cuts
starting next year for three months, with the decision to be reviewed in early
March, where OPEC is scheduled to announce its monthly report later this week.
The
weekly report of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) also showed U.S.
oil production stabilized at a record high.
The dollar index,
which measures the performance of major six currencies against the U.S dollar,
slipped by 0.1 percent at 97.60.