Oil retreats in Asia as China slowdown weighs

Oil fell in Asia Monday after data showed China's economy posted its slowest growth for more than six years in the third quarter, reinforcing worries about demand from the world's top energy guzzler.

The government said gross domestic product (GDP) for the world's second-biggest economy rose 6.9 percent in the three months to September, beating market forecasts but still the worst since the global financial crisis in 2009.

Growth in China's industrial production, which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, also dropped sharply to 5.7 percent year-on-year in September, the government said.

"Although China's retail sales turned out strong, industrial-related data remained weak. This would likely be weighing down on commodity usage in China," Daniel Ang, an investment analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore, said in a market commentary.

"With weak Chinese industrial production, we may see Chinese manufacturing PMI worsen, thus leading to weaker oil prices," he said, referring to the forward-looking Purchasing Managers' Index to be released later this week.