(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil moved down near $88 Monday morning amid a firm U.S. dollar.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for March delivery were down $0.72 to $88.39 a barrel. Last week, oil slipped nearly 3% after advancing to a fresh 28-month high amid worries over further credit tightening measures by China.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's oil minister has said that the OPEC producers' group may hike output to meet rising demand for crude oil in 2011.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was leveling off from its 2-month low against the euro after preliminary data showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone declined unexpectedly in January, falling to a two-month low. The greenback was ticking higher versus sterling and the yen, while struggling for direction against the Swiss Franc.
This week, traders will look to FOMC interest rate decision, data on new home sales, pending home sales, durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims and advance estimate on U.S. Q4 GDP.
Focus will also be on weekly crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Tuesday after the markets hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day.
