Brent slips below $114 ahead of Italy’s election results

Oil price: investors await the results of Italy’s election, which is due to close on Monday

Brent futures slipped below $114 per barrel on Monday, reversing some of the gains made in the previous session on concerns about China's demand growth as manufacturing output in the world's second biggest oil consumer pulled back from two-year highs.

Reuters reported the HSBC flash purchasing managers' index (PMI) for February slipping to 50.4, down from the previous month's final reading of 52.3 - the best since January 2011. Further losses on Brent were stemmed as investors waited on Italy’s election results.

Front-month Brent slipped 18 cents to $113.92 a barrel by Monday morning, after settling 0.5% higher on Friday. US oil declined 11 cents to $93.02, after ending 29 cents up at the end of last week.

"The reason for the decline this morning is the China PMI numbers, but prices have…

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