Oil prices rise on China's Q2 GDP figure

Oil prices advanced slightly on Monday, as China's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter came in as expected and U.S. economic data turned out mixed. China's GDP grew at an annual rate of 7.5 percent in the second quarter, slowing down from 7.7 percent in the first quarter, official data showed Monday. However, the figure was inconsistent with market consensus, thus easing market worries about oil demand in the world's second largest economy. The oil market also gained some momentum from news of a mechanical glitch in an Iraq/Turkey pipeline. Record run on Wall Street that pointed to another all-time closing high also added support. The crude market swung between advances and losses before eking out modest gains at the close, in response to mixed economic data from the United States. The advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for June increased 0.4 percent to 442.8 U.S. billion dollars from the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department said Monday. The latest figures have missed analysts' estimates of rising 0.8 percent. Moreover, manufacturing activity in the New York region continued to improve modestly in July, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The general business conditions index rose to 9.5, beating market expectations. In addition, business inventories inched up 0.1 percent in May from April, while sales rose 1.1 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said Monday. Light, sweet crude for August delivery gained 0.37 dollars to settle at 106.32 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for August delivery went up 0.28 dollars, to close at 109. 09 dollars a barrel.