SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Crude-oil futures declined Monday after opening higher, tracking stocks' early downward moves as concerns about the global economy lingered. Crude oil for September delivery lost 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $74.94 a barrel. A close around these levels would be oil's first close under $75 a barrel since mid-July. Futures opened marginally stronger as the dollar was under pressure. They resisted a drop lower even as the New York Federal Reserve reported a lower-than-expected rise for its Empire State manufacturing index. Manufacturing activity in the New York region rebounded a bit to 7.1 in August from 5.1 in July. Stock futures trimmed losses on the news, but the major benchmarks opened lower. Read more about stocks here. Investors also had to grapple with news that Japan grew much slower than expected. The country's gross domestic product rose 0.4% in the second quarter, whereas economists had expected a rise around 2.3%. Overall market bearishness and bad news on the macroeconomic front caused oil to decline nearly 7% last week. Traders have grown concerned about the slowdown in the pace of the recovery, which would crimp demand for oil and other energy products. Natural gas for September delivery Monday declined 12 cents, or 2.8%, to $4.21 per million British thermal units. Gasoline hit a fresh eleven-week low, with the September contract trading at $1.93 a gallon, losing a penny, or 0.6%.

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