(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was extending losses Monday morning amid concerns over demand growth.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for June delivery, shed $0.66 to $97.83 a barrel. Last week, oil settled at a three-month low after the OPEC signaled that it would increase output to curb prices.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was paring its recent gains versus the euro and sterling, while trading flat against the yen and the Swiss franc.
In economic news, German factory orders increased 2.2 percent in March from the previous month on robust foreign demand, the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology said. March's monthly growth was bigger than the expected 0.5 percent and far exceeded the 0.6 percent rise logged in February.
Meanwhile, Switzerland's consumer prices declined for the seventh consecutive month in April, data released by the Federal Statistical Office revealed. The consumer price index dropped 1 percent, following a similar size fall in March. Economists had expected a 0.9 percent decline.
During this week, traders will focus on the weekly jobless claims report, the Commerce Department's trade balance report for March, preliminary reading of the Reuters and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May.
Also, focus will be on the crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Tuesday after the market hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day.
