By Mari Iwata Crude-oil futures rose slightly in Asia Monday, supported by a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs reading Friday and political unrest in Egypt that has raised concerns about oil-supply disruptions. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $103.31 a barrel at 0538 GMT, up $0.09 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.17 to $107.89 a barrel. Protests continued in Egypt, with troops and police using guns and teargas to disperse Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, news reports said Monday. "As long as the unrest keeps going, crude prices would be supported," said Daiichi Shohin analyst Koichi Murakami. "Pockets of geopolitical instability are supporting oil prices and possibly shielding them from a decline" due to a softer-than-expected pickup in demand, Barclays said in a note. This week, major catalysts for oil prices include China's consumer price data on Tuesday and trade balance on Wednesday as well as the Federal Open Market Committee's minutes and a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday, analysts said. Further signs of a China slowdown may erode positive sentiment while a positive growth outlook from the Fed could prop up crude-oil prices. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for August--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 28 points to $2.8996 a gallon, while August heating oil traded at $2.9896, 1 point lower. ICE gasoil for July changed hands at $916.75 a metric ton, up $5.00 from Friday's settlement.

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