Paring recent gains, the price of crude oil was ticking lower Monday as traders preferred to book profits ahead of this week's macroeconomic data.
Elsewhere, China's factory sector grew at a faster pace in March, led by solid improvement in new orders and production, according two separate surveys released on Monday. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) and the National Bureau of Statistics said that the official purchasing managers' index, that measures the performance of the manufacturing sector, rose to 50.9 in March from 50.1 in February.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for May delivery, slipped $0.46 to $96.77 a barrel. Last week, oil settled at a six-week high on continued demand growth prospects after some positive economic data globally showed signs of economic recovery. Traders largely ignored the Energy Information Administration weekly oil report that showed U.S. crude stockpiles to have jumped more than expected last week..
This morning, the U.S. dollar was trading flat around its four-month high versus the euro and hovering near a weekly low against sterling and the Swiss franc. The buck was leveling off from its two-and-half year high versus the yen.
Traders will look to the results of its manufacturing survey for March from the Institute for Supply Management, due out at 10 a.m. ET. The consensus expectations call for a small drop in the index to 54 from 54.2 in February.
Simultaneously, the Commerce Department will release its construction spending report for February. Economists expect monthly construction spending growth of 1.1 percent for February, rebounding from the 2.1 percent drop in January.
During this week, traders focus will be on the results of the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing survey for March, the ADP private sector employment report for March, the weekly jobless claims report and the Labor Department's non-farm payrolls report for March.
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.
