Oil Drops a Fourth Day on China Manufacturing, Rising Stockpiles

Oil dropped a fourth day after U.S. stockpiles climbed the most since March, a gauge of Chinese manufacturing shrank and Japanese exports declined, signaling fuel demand may be easing in the world’s biggest crude users.

Futures slid as much as 1.4 percent, extending yesterday’s 3.5 percent drop in the longest losing streak since June. U.S. oil inventories surged 8.5 million barrels last week as Gulf of Mexico production resumed after Hurricane Isaac, Energy Department data showed yesterday. China’s manufacturing may contract an 11th month, according to a purchasing managers index by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. Japan’s overseas sales fell a third month in August, the Finance Ministry said.