MW : Oil futures extend decline as economic worries persist
Crude oil for November delivery dropped 78 cents, or 1.1%, to $69.17 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
"Oil prices continue to decline, after the disappointing U.S. labor-market report last week cast renewed shadows on growth prospects and undermined recovery hopes," said analysts at Action Economics.
Oil futures dropped 1.2% on Friday, pressured by economic worries. The government reported that 263,000 payroll jobs were lost in September and the unemployment rate rose to a 26-year high of 9.8%. Economists expected a decline of 167,000 jobs.
"We suspect that with U.S. macro numbers taking a turn for the worst, the path of least resistance in a variety of energy complexes will be lower over the coming weeks," said Edward Meir, analyst at MF Global, in a note to clients.
Traders will get fresh data on the state of the economy at 10 a.m. Eastern when the Institute of Supply Management will release its non-manufacturing index for September.
Economists polled by MarketWatch estimate the index reached 50 in September from 48.4 in August.
Also on Globex, November reformulated gasoline fell 1 cent to $1.73 a gallon and November heating oil dropped 2 cents to $1.77 a gallon.
