08:59 AM EDT, 07/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Oil moved lower in choppy electronic trade early on Monday with traders wary of increasing political risk following the weekend assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Weaker than expected second-quarter gross domestic product growth in China also weighed on oil.

West Texas Intermediate crude was last seen down US$0.04 to US$82.17 per barrel, while September Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down US$0.05 to US$84.98.

No consensus has yet emerged on the effects for markets following the attempt on Trump's life at a Saturday rally, with oil repeatedly swinging under and above Friday's close in overnight trade.

"The circumstance and intrigue of this evil act will be fully autopsied elsewhere, and no doubt used as another additive for what is a race to the bottom. Markets on the other hand will probably become a little more defensive," PVM Oil Associates noted.

China, the No.1 oil importer, reported second-quarter GDP growth of 4.7%, the lowest in more than a year and well under the consensus estimate for a 5.1% rise, according to a Reuters poll. The weak result comes as the country's ruling Communist Party stages its Third Plenum to come up with solutions to improve an economy beset by slowing consumer demand, a debt crisis in its real-estate sector and high youth unemployment.

"China's GDP data disappointed, raising the stakes for its Third Plenum meeting that kicked off today, and focus would be on any reform announcements," Saxo Bank noted.

Demand from China was already in focus as the International Energy Agency last week last week warned oil demand there is slowing along with its economy.