Oil prices were steady on Monday despite Moody's downgrading the US sovereign credit rating and official data showing a slowdown in growth in industrial production and retail sales in China.

The developments have raised concerns about the outlook for the world's two largest economies and expectations that demand for oil could slow, after Beijing and Washington agreed to lift most tariffs on each other's goods, boosting prices.

"The weaker-than-expected Chinese data did not help crude, although I would describe the setback as modest," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Brent crude futures were down 1 cent at $65.39 a barrel by 1438 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 9 cents, or 0.1%, at $62.58. The nearby June WTI contract expires on Tuesday.

Both contracts rose more than 1% last week. Comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that President Donald Trump would impose tariffs at the level he threatened last month on trading partners that do not negotiate in "good faith" added to pressure on the oil market.

"Today's weakness is just a continuation of crude's wild ride that has yielded nothing, with the latest move being triggered by a Moody's downgrade and Scott Bessent's warning," said Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank.

Official Chinese data on Monday showed growth in industrial output slowed in April, although the performance was still better than economists had expected.

Investors are monitoring progress in nuclear talks between the United States and oil producer Iran, with uncertainty over the outcome limiting losses in oil prices.

"The U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations are unclear and could take months," said John Evans of oil broker PVM. (Newsmaker23)

Source: Reuters