Crude prices fall amid Japan's downbeat data

Crude prices decreased Monday as data showed Japan's economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter.

Japan's Cabinet Office announced on Monday that the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank an annualized 1.6 percent in the three months through September, in stark contrast to median economists' expectations for the economy to grow 2.2 percent.

The latest GDP data for the third quarter followed a contraction in the previous quarter, meaning that Japan has now officially entered a technical recession.

The recession of Japan, the world's third-largest oil consuming country, dragged the crude prices down.

Market analysts speculated that the huge drop in prices increased the possibility that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will cut production as the cartel, which pumps a third of the world's crude, is set to hold its next production meeting in Vienna on Nov. 27.

On the U.S. economic front, manufacturing activity in the New York region rose in November, said the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a survey, which showed that the Empire State general business conditions index climbed to 10.2 points in November from 6.2 points in the prior month.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery moved down 18 cents to settle at 75.64 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery lost 10 cents to close at 79.31 dollars a barrel.