Crude Oil futures trade lower after tepid U.S. data

        Crude Oil futures traded lower during Wednesday’s Asian session as traders in the region digest another batch of mediocre U.S. economic data. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for December delivery fell 0.56% to USD97.65 per barrel in Asian trading Wednesday. The December contract settled down 0.49% at USD98.20 per barrel on Tuesday. 

In U.S. economic news out Tuesday, the Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence dropped to 71.2 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 80.2 in September. Analysts were expecting the index to fall to 75.0 this month. 

The Commerce Department U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% in September, while core retail sales, which exclude transportation items and gasoline, rose 0.4%, both in line with expectations.

Separately, the Labor Department reported that the country's producer price index contracted 0.1% in September, defying gains for a 0.2% gain. 

Earlier Tuesday, British oil giant said its net profit fell to $3.5 billion in the third quarter from $5.28 billion last year. The company said it plans to sell $10 billion in assets before the end of 2015. BP produced 3.17 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter. 

In other oil news, reports out Tuesday evening indicated U.S. policymakers are considering new sanctions against Iran that could slash the OPEC member’s oil exports by 50% over the next year. 

Since the beginning of 2012, U.S. and European sanctions have already cut Iran's oil exports to about 1 million bpd from about 2.5 million bpd, Reuters reported. 

Elsewhere, Brent futures for December delivery fell 0.20% to USD108.60 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.