By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures turned higher in early New York trading on Monday, after being down through most of the Asian and European sessions.
Crude futures for delivery in August traded at $76.35 a barrel, up 27 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. They fell as low as $75.28 earlier.
Supporting the commodity, China reported a surprising jump in its trade surplus, with crude imports at a record high that point to "robust demand conditions," according to Barclays Capital.
Analysts noted the traders may be cautious about taking big positions ahead of the U.S. corporate earnings season, which unofficially kicks off late Monday when Alcoa Inc. (AA 11.03, +0.09, +0.82%) reports its quarterly results.
Also, U.S. June retail sales and weekly oil inventory data are due Wednesday.
Last week, crude oil rose 5.5%, its best week since late May. An unexpected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles propped up prices, but gasoline stockpiles rose in the same data, posing a mixed picture about U.S. demand for oil. Read about previous week's oil gains.
