LONDON—Crude oil futures were mixed in largely subdued trading because of the U.S. Labor Day holiday.
Participants were weighing oil market fundamentals against some recent upbeat economic data out of the U.S.
"There is concern...that supplies above ground and in ships is high and rising while demand from refineries is low and falling," said Dennis Gartman, editor of the Gartman Letter. "The 'driving' season is ending in the northern hemisphere this week, and...even with equity markets rallying smartly [Friday] and with most other commodity prices taking the equity market's lead, energy did not."
The front-month October Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was up 33 cents, or 0.4%, at $77 a barrel. The front-month October contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was off 35 cents at $74.25.
Oil prices settled lower Friday after the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. nonmanufacturing growth in August slipped to its lowest level since January. The ISM data prompted oil to reverse its earlier gains on news that U.S. job losses in August rose more modestly than many anticipated.
"Given the weakness of U.S. oil fundamentals and the likelihood the U.S. economy will continue to struggle, it is difficult to envisage a sustained rally in crude futures," analysts at U.K.-based consultancy KBC Energy Economics said.
It noted that money managers now tend to go short when oil prices reach $75 to $80 a barrel rather than waiting for rallies up to $85 a barrel as they had done earlier in the year.
