West Texas Intermediate crude fell below $90 a barrel for the first time in more than two months as service industries in China expanded at the slowest pace in five months in February.

Prices declined for a third day as the expansion of the non-manufacturing industry in China, the world’s second-largest oil-consuming country after the U.S., was the slowest since September after a gauge of new orders declined. Measures released March 1 pointed to manufacturing growth cooling. Money managers cut bets on rising oil prices in the week ended Feb. 26, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

China’s non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 54.5 in February from 56.2 in January, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a weekend statement. The index’s reading has been above 50, which indicates expansion, for at least two years.

A gauge of new orders declined 1.9 points from January to 51.8, the weakest reading since October. The federation’s manufacturing PMI released March 1 dropped to 50.1, the weakest level in five months.

WTI for April delivery slid to $89.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for April settlement dropped 60 cents to $109.80 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Gold prices rose slightly from week low with the support of shopping at the market of Asia, but strong U.S. economic performance reduces the appeal of gold as a safe investment.

Investors are waiting to see how the U.S. economy will affect begun on Friday $ 85-billion reduction in public spending. Meanwhile, released last week, the February data on production, car sales and consumer sentiment in the U.S. pointed to faster economic growth.

Stocks of the world's largest gold-exchange-traded fund (ETF) SPDR Gold Trust on Friday fell to a seven-month low 1.254,885 tons, down ninth consecutive session. Improving forecasts for the world economy has increased the appetite for risk and attract investors to higher-yielding markets such as stocks.

Sales of gold coins in the United States rose sharply in February, while sales of silver coins were the highest for February since 1986.

April futures price of gold on COMEX today is trading in the range of 1571.60 - 1584.30 dollars per ounce.