WTI trades below $54.50, erases more than 1% on Thursday

• Oil output of the US rose to a record high of 12.4M bpd in August.
• Economic activity in China's manufacturing sector continued to contract in October.
• China is reportedly unwilling to budge on US demands in trade talks.

Crude oil prices remained under pressure on Thursday and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate, which lost 1% on Wednesday, is now down 1.3% on the day at $54.15.

Crude oil hurt by weak demand outlook

Earlier in the day, the data from China showed that the economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted with the NBS Manufacturing PMI coming in below the 50 mark for the sixth straight mark and revived concerns over a weak demand outlook from the world's second larget oil consumer.

Meanwhile, reports claiming that China is not willing to budge on the structural changes requested by the United States as part of the trade negotiations seem to be weighing on the market sentiment and putting additional weight on crude oil's shoulders.

On the other hand, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday announced that crude oil production in the US increased by nearly 600,000 barrels per day in August to a record high of 12.4 million and caused the selling pressure to remain intact.

Technical levels to watch for