MW:Oil futures extend declines in electronic trading
By Virginia M. Harrison
SYDNEY (MarketWatch)-- Crude-oil futures extended declines in electronic trading Tuesday, as softer-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data and fresh worries about the euro-zone debt crisis dulled the appeal of risk assets. Benchmark crude oil for December delivery CL1Z -0.71% fell 69 cents, or 0.8%, to $92.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours. The contract settled at $93.19 a barrel earlier in the North American session. The dollar strengthened during Asian trading hours, with the dollar index DXY +0.21% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies, rising to 76.536, from 76.243 in North American trade late Monday. A stronger greenback tends to discourage investment in dollar-priced commodities such as oil as it makes the commodity more expensive to holders of other currencies.
