Oil prices mixed after uneven data from China, Europe

Oil prices were mixed on Tuesday following better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data but a poor showing in a key measure of eurozone activity.

In New York, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery pushed up 69 cents to close at $91.56 a barrel.

Meanwhile Brent North Sea crude for November lost 12 cents to $96.85 a barrel in London deals. Brent had risen earlier in the day, winning a lift from the Chinese figures before profit taking set in.

Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG trading group, said prices came under pressure with the startup Monday of production at a major Libyan oil field.

Economic data also shaped the trade. HSBC's flash purchasing managers index (PMI) for the Chinese manufacturing sector came in at 50.5 in September, up from a final reading of 50.2 in August. Analysts had expected the gauge would fall bellow the 50.0 reading that would indicate contraction.

"What we are seeing with the Chinese PMI numbers is a strong rebound when analysts had actually priced in a possible contraction," Desmond Chua, analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, told AFP.

"The numbers released today bring about some sense of optimism as new orders and new exports in China saw marked improvement," he added.

Offsetting that was a fall in the Markit composite PMI for the eurozone, hitting a nine-month low of 52.3 points.

"The latest PMI data are testimony to the lackluster nature of the eurozone's economic recovery," said ING analyst Martin van Vliet.

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