Oil is up slightly in early morning trade, as investors buy on dips as energy prices continued to slide amid persisting concerns about the global economic outlook. Given that there is no fresh news that may suggest a rebound in growth, however, most traders expect crude to find steady resistance. Gold, on the other hand, is down slightly on profit-taking. Nevertheless, the yellow metal is expected to trend higher in the near term as its allure as a safe haven continues to rise due to economic concerns worldwide. At 0755 ET, Brent crude is up 0.4% at $75.82 a barrel, while light sweet crude is up 0.3% at $75.95 a barrel, and natural gas is up 0.4% at $4.31 a million British thermal units. Gold is down 0.1% at $1,216.50 an ounce, while silver is up 0.1% at $18.08 an ounce, and copper is 0.4% weaker at $3.29 a pound. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co ( SHI ) restarted a catalytic cracker after three weeks of scheduled maintenance. The refining unit has a capacity of 1 million tons a year, or 20,000 barrels a day. Vedanta Resources plc (VED) is seen buying a majority stake in Cairn Energy plc's (CNE) Indian unit. The Press Trust of India reported that Vedanta could take a 51% stake in Cairn India Ltd (532792) for $8 billion to $8.5 billion, with an official announcement expected Monday. Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) Japan group refiner Tonen General Sekiyu KK (5012) is considering investing in secondary refining units or cutting its refining capacity to meet government efficiency rules, according to its managing director W.J Bogaty. In the mining sector, Rio Tinto plc ( RTP ) lodged an appeal against an Australian competition tribunal ruling which stated that the company must allow rivals to use one of its railways.

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