Oil futures fell sharply in electronic trading on Thursday, extending heavy losses made the previous day, after weak Chinese data raised further concerns about demand trends. Benchmark U.S. crude oil for July delivery lost 1.3% or $1.07 to trade at $80.38 a barrel in electronic trading during Asian hours. Data out Thursday showed China's manufacturing sector contracting further, as HSBC said the inital or “flash" version of its manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index hit a seven-month low in the current month. On Wednesday, oil dropped $2.23, or 2.7%, to end at $81.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest close for a front-month contract since Oct. 5., as investors fretted about supply data. A report from the Energy Information Administration showed crude supplies rose by 2.9 million barrels in the week ended June 15. That contrasted with expectations of a decline of 600,000 barrels for the week, according to analysts polled by Platts. A rising U.S. dollar also pressured crude, as the dollar index DXY +0.12% traded at 81.606 Thursday, up from 81.567 in late North American trading on Wednesday. Elsewhere in the energy complex, July futures for gasoline RBN2 -0.64% lost 2 cents, or 0.7%, to trade at $2.572 a gallon. Heating oil for July delivery HON2 -0.25% lost 1 cent, or 0.4%, to trade at $2.577 per gallon. July natural-gas futures NGN12 +2.07% rose 2 cents, or 0.8%, to trade at $2.54 per million British thermal units.
