Oil prices slumped in early Asian trading on Tuesday following a jump in the previous session, underscoring the market view that fundamentals are too weak to warrant a push much higher.Crude futures jumped almost 4% on Monday, moving away from January-lows, as speculative traders increased their net-long positions, but prices slumped again on Tuesday morning and remain over a quarter below their most recent peaks in May.

Front-month Brent futures were at $50.19 a barrel early on Tuesday, down 22 cents from their last close. US crude fell 19 cents to $44.77.

The low prices come on the back of weak supply and demand fundamentals, with output from key producers like Opec, Russia and the US near record highs just as demand growth slows.

In China, the world’s second largest economy and oil consumer, exports tumbled 8.3% in July in their biggest fall in four months, threatening the government’s 7% economic growth target for this year, already the lowest in decades.

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