US crude oil stalls under $89

Crude oil prices held under $89 per barrel Wednesday morning amid disappointing data from the U.S. manufacturing sector. Economic researchers at Markit said factory activity was expanding, but at the slowest pace in close to five years. Britain's national data office said the country's gross domestic product in the second quarter dropped 0.7 percent compared to the first quarter, a larger drop than economists had predicted. The consensus forecast called for a drop of 0.2 percent. Markets, when the predictions are off, react quickly as investors adjust to the data. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September delivery West Texas Intermediate crude oil lost 12 cents in late trading to $88.88 per barrel. Reformulated blendstock gasoline dropped 0.8 cents to $2.7242 per gallon. Home heating oil gave up 0.08 cents to $2.8475 per gallon. Natural gas was at $3.07 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline climbed to $3.485 per gallon from Tuesday's $3.477, AAA said.