Crude oil drops overnight

Crude oil prices dropped overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as traders digested conflicting manufacturing reports. In China, the Purchasing Managers Index for November showed growth after 13 months of contraction, the HSBC PMI rising from 49.5 to 50.5, which is just above the break-even point of 50. In the same news cycle Monday, the Institute of Supply Management said the PMI for U.S. factories slipped from 51.7 in October to 49.5 in November. With the economy drawing more attention than tensions in the Middle East, West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped $1.35 to $87.74 per barrel. Home heating oil shed 4.06 cents to reach $3.0156 a gallon, while reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 3.83 cents to $2.6882 a gallon. Henry Hub natural gas shed 3.9 cents to $3.551 per million British thermal units. At the pump, AAA reported a national average price for regular unleaded gasoline at $3.381 per gallon, down from Monday's $3.387