By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil prices slipped in electronic trading Monday, taking a step back after Friday’s solid gains, as U.S. stock index futures declined in Asian trade and as China’s premier warned of more economic hardship in the future.
Benchmark U.S. light, sweet crude oil for delivery in August CLQ2 -0.70% dropped 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $86.85 a barrel on Globex.
The front-month contract had rallied $1.02 in Friday’s regular New York Mercantile Exchange session, in line with a broad rally across asset classes, following an upbeat reaction to U.S. bank earnings reports.
The drop Monday came as U.S. equity futures turned lower, pointing to a likely weak opening on Wall Street.
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +1.62% futures slid 30 points, or 0.2%, to 12,682, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index SPX +1.65% futures lost 3.10 points, or 0.2%, to 1,348.60.
While most Asian markets were higher, mainland Chinese stocks were sharply lower Monday after Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday that the economic rebound isn’t yet stable, and hardship may continue for a period of time. (Read more about Wen’s comments and Asia Markets .)
As growing Chinese consumption was a key factor behind rising global demand in recent years for commodities, including crude oil, fears of a slowdown in the country have fueled worries about the energy outlook.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, August futures for gasoline RBQ2 -0.10% and heating-oil HOQ2 -0.12% rose 0.1% to $2.82 per gallon and 0.1% to $2.79 per gallon, respectively.
Natural-gas futures for delivery in the same month NGQ12 -0.07% edged up 0.3% to $2.88 per million British thermal units.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
