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London - Oil prices fell on Thursday as weakness on Wall Street offset upbeat trade data from China which bolstered the outlook for the Chinese economy, the world's second-biggest, analysts said.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September dropped 60 cents to stand at $106.84 a barrel in London afternoon deals.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for September, fell 30c to $104.07 a barrel.
"Crude oil prices extended losses on Thursday for a fifth consecutive day, following a bearish tone in Wall Street... that hurt market sentiment," said Myrto Sokou, senior research analyst at Sucden brokers.
Official data on Thursday showed China's monthly trade surplus falling 29.6% in July year-on-year to $17.8bn, as imports and exports both rose.
The numbers "generally suggest that there has been a reasonable amount of commodities importing during the monthl", Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.
On Wednesday the US Energy Information Administration reported that US oil stockpiles fell 1.3m barrels in the week ended Friday. The decline was in line with a survey of analysts by Dow Jones Newswires.
Overall US stockpiles have dropped sharply in recent weeks, with the country still in the peak-demand summer driving season when Americans take to the roads for their holidays.
Oil prices had rallied last week on the back of strong manufacturing data from oil guzzlers the US and China, with Brent crude reaching a near four-month high above $110 a barrel before giving way in the wake of last Friday's US employment data.
