By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Crude oil futures fell in electronic trading Monday, with the move forming part of a broader sell-off across commodity and equity markets.
Crude for January delivery CL2F -0.15% , the new front-of-month contract, traded down 32 cents, or 0.3%, to $97.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
Oil closed out Friday’s North American session with a 1.6% weekly loss, snapping a six-week winning streak, as worries about Europe’s debt problems and some weak economic data weighed stoke worries about future demand.
Risk aversion gripped equity markets in Asian trading Monday, following steep falls for stocks on Friday, as concerns about the euro zone and the impact on global growth remained in focus. Read more on Asian equity markets.
“Essentially, the highly unstable equilibrium that oil prices have been in continues, with heightened fundamental and geopolitical risks fighting for influence against the escalation of sovereign debt concerns,” strategists at Barclays Capital said.
The losses came despite a weaker dollar, which can be positive for crude, as it makes the commodity cheaper to holders of other currencies.
The dollar index DXY +0.03% , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, rose to 78.056, from 78.098 in late North American trade Friday.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
