NYMEX July crude opened 18 cents higher Monday at $70.22/barrel despite the stronger US dollar, with Asian equity strength said to be supportive of the energy complex in the early going. ICE July Brent traded 21 cents lower at $71.47/b. NYMEX June RBOB opened 46 points higher at $1.9658/gal and June heating oil opened 23 points higher at $1.8985/gal. News from China overnight that the country would not take further steps to slow the economy down helped boost Asian equities markets, which supported the energy futures complex. The same could not be said for the euro, however, as renewed trader fears over the health of bank balance sheets covering southern European sovereign debt holdings, wiped away all of Friday's gain on the euro. The ICE Euro-dollar spread traded at $1.2382 Monday morning, down 182 points. "Notwithstanding some recent decoupling between oil and the euro, whereby oil prices have continued to plunge despite a rebound in the euro, we still view the euro zone situation as key to near term oil price direction," said analyst Jim Ritterbusch. "We have been consistent in stating that the euro zone problems remain lacking in definition and until a cohesive and credible plan is forthcoming, we see last week's gains in the euro not only being erased, but fresh lows established below the $1.20 area." The July-August crude spread opened at minus $1.46/b, tighter than Friday's settlement of minus $1.63/b. The July NYMEX crude-Brent spread opened at minus $1.30/b, modestly wider than Friday's settlement of minus $1.27/b. --Jeff Kerr jeff_kerr@platts.com

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