Oil Retreats as US and China Growth Concerns Weigh

Summary

Companies

US credit rating cut by Moody’s
China’s retail sales disappoint
Iran-US nuclear talks in focus

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) – Oil slipped on Monday, weighed down by Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating and official data that showed slowing growth in China’s industrial output and retail sales.

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Both developments raised concerns over the outlook for the world’s two biggest economies and oil consumers a week after Beijing and Washington’s agreement to roll back most tariffs on each other’s goods pushed oil prices higher.

“The weaker than expected Chinese data is not helping crude oil, although I would describe the setback as modest,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Brent crude futures lost 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $64.84 a barrel by 1146 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped by 54 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.95. The nearby June WTI contract expires on Tuesday.

Both contracts rose more than 1% last week.

Also weighing on the market were comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that President Donald Trump will impose tariffs at the rate he threatened last month on trading partners that do not negotiate in “good faith”.

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“Today’s weakness is simply a continuation of crude’s wild ride going nowhere, with the latest move triggered by the Moody’s downgrade and not least Scott Bessent’s warning,” said Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank.

The official Chinese data on Monday showed growth in industrial output slowed in April, though performance was still better than economists had expected.

Investors are keeping an eye on progress in the Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, with uncertainty over the outcome limiting losses in oil prices.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that any deal must include an agreement not to enrich uranium, a comment that swiftly drew criticism from Tehran.

“The U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations are not clear cut and may take many months,” said John Evans of oil broker PVM.

Reporting by Alex Lawler Addiitional reporting by Florence Tan and Emily Chow Editing by David Goodman