AP: Oil Down In Asian Trade Ahead Of Energy Report
SINGAPORE: Oil declined in Asian trade Tuesday amid fading euphoria over better-than-expected US jobs data, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, was off 32 cents to 81.55 dollars a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for April delivery eased 23 cents to 80.24 dollars.
Oil struggled Monday to extend last week’s rally, which was driven by encouraging numbers from the US Labor Department showing a smaller-than-expected fall in non-farm payrolls of 36,000 in February.
Analysts were predicting about 67,000 job losses for last month.
“There was a lack of significant fresh news to drive the oil price strongly in either direction,” analysts from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a report.
Analyst Mike Fitzpatrick at MF Global noted that actual supply and demand data for oil remained weak.
“All this points to the possibility of corrective selling,” he added.
Fitzpatrick also said that the Greece debt crisis continued to haunt the market.
“Perhaps the sight of Greek Prime Minister (George) Papandreou going hat in hand to European capitals seeking help has made investors uneasy,” he said.
The oil market, meanwhile, weighed weekend comments from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, who said that his key crude-producing nation would maintain its moderate policies.
