By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil prices posted small gains in early electronic trade Monday, as Asian stock markets advanced and the U.S. dollar slipped against other major currencies.
Benchmark Nymex crude for September delivery rose 16 cents to $71.09 a barrel on Globex at midday in Asia, bouncing off an intraday low of $70.32 a barrel.
The front-month contract fell $1.01, or 1.4%, to $70.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at the end of a volatile session Friday, as the dollar's strong gains offset an upbeat economic report showing a slowdown in U.S. job losses. See full story.
Most Asian equity markets were trading higher, with Japan's Nikkei 225 Average up 1.1% at 10,527.25, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index 2.3% higher at 20,851.39, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 up 0.6%. China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2% at 3,253.
The dollar index (DXY 78.96, +0.06, +0.08%) , meanwhile, was down 0.1% at 78.84.
