NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures swung between gains and losses on Monday, as demand for energy remained weak and the U.S. dollar strengthened against rivals.
Crude oil for July delivery edged down 4 cents to $68.41 a barrel in volatile electronic trading on Globex.
Earlier, the contract fell to an intraday low of $66.78 a barrel.
"The movements of late pushing crude up near $70 seem to be overdone to the upside in the short term," said Zachary Oxman, managing director at TrendMax Futures.
"I think it's time for a bit of a respite for both crude and stocks," Oxman said. "Gas prices at the pump are becoming more of an issue again and if we see the averages move into the low $3 per gallon, I think that you will continue to see big supply builds as people stay home and drive less."
The average price for a gallon of regular gas climbed to $2.613 on Sunday, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. That's up 11 cents from a week ago and up 20% from a month ago, data showed.
"From a fundamental point of view, the outlook remains subdued," said analysts at Commerzbank. "Oil demand remains weak, while supply is being expanded at present, leading to rising oil inventories."
Dollar gains
Oil prices briefly topped $70 a barrel on Friday, but finished that day's session with a loss of 0.5% -- though still up 3.2% for the week.
The oil market on Friday was "torn between the negative effects of a stronger U.S. dollar and the positive effects from better-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls," analysts at Credit Suisse wrote in a note to clients Monday.
"The strong influence of currency movements on the oil prices is ... a sign that the market is currently dominated by speculation," they said. Oil prices have moved ahead of fundamentals, but further price declines are "possible as actual demand remains weak," Credit Suisse said.
In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar was higher versus most major rivals Monday, extending gains scored following Friday's jobs data. See Currencies.
The dollar index (DXY 80.10, +0.33, +0.40%) , a measure of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, traded at 81.098 in recent action, up from 80.701 in North American trade Friday afternoon.
Dollar strength typically weighs on dollar-denominated commodities such as oil, because it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Also on Globex, July reformulated gasoline was unchanged at $1.95 a gallon and July heating oil gained 1 cent to $1.78 a gallon.
July natural gas futures declined 13.20 cents, or 3.4%, to $3.736 per million British thermal units.
