Crude declines for the second straight day on weak economic reports .

Crude prices declined for the second consecutive day on Thursday on getting some weak economic reports pointing to the slow recovery in the economy. The report of weak manufacturing activity in Northeast coupled with decline in producer price and slow gains in industrial production weighed on the sentiments. The other factor that contributed to the weakness was the report of crude inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, crude oil delivery hub rising 999,814 barrels, to 39.93 million barrels, in the week to July 13. 

Benchmark crude for August delivery closed 42 cents lower or 0.55 percent to $76.62 a barrel, after trading in a range of $75.33 to $77.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, August Brent crude expired and settled at $76.19 a barrel, down 58 cents or 0.75 percent on the ICE.