Asian equities fell overnight, a session marked by a 6.7% slump in Shanghai stocks tied to concerns over the pace of bank lending. China ranks as the world's No. 2 consumer of oil. U.S. stocks were also solidly lower to start the week. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for October delivery lost $2.99, or 4.1%, to $69.75 a barrel. Oil had hit $75 a barrel in recent days, a level not seen in 10 months, but ended last week down 1.6% after data showed petroleum demand in the U.S. remained weak. Monday's loss almost erased crude's monthly gains. Oil prices, as gauged by Nymex front-month futures contracts, are poised to end the month slightly higher. "The slump in Chinese markets will likely lead to a pullback in most commodities as demand concerns become the primary focus of investors this week," said Brian Niemiec, analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group. Speculators sharply increased their buying positions in the week ended Aug. 25, when crude prices hit $75 a barrel, latest regulatory data showed. Net long positions held by non-commercial traders, or those who don't need physical oil delivery, rose more than 16,800 contracts, according to a weekly report released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. One contract represents 1,000 barrels of oil. But the rally in oil prices ended as data showed petroleum demand still remained weak. The Energy Information Administration reported last week that U.S. crude inventories rose in the week ended Aug. 21, pushed up by a jump in imports. Meanwhile, petroleum demand remained lower in comparison with where it stood a year ago. Also in energy trading Monday, September reformulated gasoline lost 8.23 cents, or 4%, to $1.9795 a gallon and September heating oil tumbled 9.13 cents, or 4.9%, to $1.769 a gallon. Both contracts expire Monday. October natural gas fell 5.8 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.975 per million British thermal units. Natural gas is set to end the month down more than 20%. The United States Oil Fund (USO 36.22, -1.44, -3.82%) lost 4.1%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG 10.77, -0.36, -3.24%) dropped 3.9%. In currencies, the dollar erased its earlier gains. The dollar index (DXY 78.27, -0.06, -0.07%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, stood at 78.207, down from 78.324 late on Friday. See Currencies. In other news, Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI 35.45, -2.64, -6.94%) entered a definitive agreement to acquire BJ Services in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $5.5 billion, the providers of oilfield services announced Monday

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