Crude futures pare early gains on softer China demand outlook

Crude oil futures pared earlier gains in mid-afternoon Asian trade Aug. 3 as broad-based economic indicators in China reflected an overall slowdown in growth despite a surprise expansion in service activity. At 2:37 pm Singapore time (0637 GMT), the ICE October Brent futures contract was up 2 cents/b (0.02%) from the previous close at $83.22/b, while the NYMEX September light…