TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Crude oil futures climbed Monday in Asia in a rebound from losses in New York Friday and in response to an intraday rise in the euro against the dollar.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at $81.26 a barrel at 0613 GMT, up $0.56 in the Globex electronic session. September Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.56 to $80.72 a barrel.
The next focus for crude markets will be the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate meeting Tuesday and any supply disruption during the high season for hurricanes, analysts said.
Market sentiment is mixed with many analysts viewing the fact that crude prices held above the key $80/barrel level Friday as positive, but others believing this isn't a positive enough signal to send the market higher.
"It was not bad, but more important is U.S. economy. If more bearish comments about the U.S. economy come out from tomorrow's FOMC meeting, crude oil prices would fall again," analyst Koichi Murakami at Tokyo-based broker Daiichi Shohin said.
Hiroyuki Kikukawa, an analyst at broker Nihon Unicom in Tokyo, said the support at $80/barrel doesn't set the stage for a move higher. "If you look at the supply-demand reality, this is not a buy market."
U.S. stocks fell moderately Friday after the disappointing jobs report, but pared losses later in the day as cautious investors stepped back in, anticipating the weak jobs data could prompt the Fed to take further measures to stimulate the economy.
"The current rise partly factors in the speculation of new economic initiatives by the Fed. If the Fed's comments prove disappointing, we may see a big fall" in crude, Mitsubishi Corporation Futures analyst Tomokazu Amano said.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for September--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 113 points to $2.1240 a gallon, while September heating oil traded at $2.1620, 148 points higher.
ICE gasoil for August changed hands at $678.50 a metric ton, down $0.25 from Friday's settlement.
