The price of crude oil was extending losses Monday morning, with the US dollar trading mixed amid fears of a possible U.S. government shutdown. Congress must pass a short-term budget by midnight on Monday in order to keep the government open.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for November delivery, lost $1.40 to $101.47 a barrel. Last week, oil shed nearly 2 percent to settle near a two-month low, with easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Iran and on progress in and Iran and the U.S. dialogue over nuclear weapons.
This morning the U.S. dollar was lingering around its eight-month low versus the euro and sterling, while trading flat against the yen.
In economic news, euro zone inflation slowed more than expected to 1.1 percent in September, the lowest since February 2010, from 1.3 percent in August, preliminary data from Eurostat showed. It was forecast to slow to 1.2 percent. Final data for September consumer prices are due on October 16.
Germany's retail sales increased less than forecast by economists in August, data from the Federal Statistical Office revealed. Retail sales grew 0.5 percent month-on-month on a seasonally and working day adjusted basis in August. This was weaker than the 0.7 percent growth expected.
From the U.S., the MNI Deutche Börse Group is scheduled to release the results of its manufacturing purchasing managers' survey for September at 9:45 am ET. The business barometer for the month is expected to improve to 54.4 from 53 in August.
The Dallas Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the results of its manufacturing survey for September at 10:30 am ET. Economists expect the business activity index based on the survey to improve to 6 in September from 5 in August.
During this week focus will be on the results of the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing and non-manufacturing surveys for September, the ADP's private sector payrolls data, the Labor Department's monthly non-farm payrolls numbers and the jobless claims report.
Also, focus will be on the crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Wednesday after the market hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day.
