MW: Oil futures extend decline as economic worries persist
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures fell below $70 a barrel early Monday, as worries about the fragility of the economic recovery and the weakness in energy demand dominated market sentiment.
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.
