MW: Oil futures wobble around the $70-a-barrel mark
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures danced around the $70-a-barrel mark Monday as fresh selling in the euro prevented a rebound in the energy contract.
After dropping $1.57 last week, light sweet crude-oil futures fell 24 cents to $69.80 a barrel in electronic trade.
The Brent crude contract on the ICE exchange dropped 68 cents to $71 a barrel in London.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.2390, -0.0155, -1.2356%) was under fresh pressure Monday after Spain had to rescue a lender over the weekend.
"Crude-oil's near-term prospects will ride very much on what other markets do this week. Of course, the primary focus will be on the euro, which last week managed to generate its first weekly gain out of the last six," said analysts at MF Global.
Fresh short positions on oil grew 10% week-on-week, according to Credit Suisse strategists analyzing weekly CFTC commitment-of-traders report data.
Technically, the July contract is in neutral territory between $72 to $72.30 resistance and a $68.60 to $68 floor, according to Societe Generale analysts.
