MW: Oil loses grasp on $80 as U.S. stocks turn lower
By Laura Mandaro
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oil for March delivery briefly turned lower Monday, tracking a downturn in U.S. equities, before resuming a modest advance. The contract recently traded 12 cents higher at $79.93 a barrel. Ahead of the opening N.Y. bell, oil had traded above $80 a barrel for the first time in more than a month, buoyed by optimism over Chinese demand and supply concerns related to a strike by French refinery workers.
