By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Oil futures dipped in electronic trading early Monday, extending crude’s losses after poor U.S. jobs data fueled worries about future demand trends.
Benchmark Nymex crude-oil futures declined 61 cents to $85.84 during early Asian trading hours Monday. At the end of last week, crude for October delivery CL1V -0.80% declined $2.48, or 2.8%, to settle at $86.45 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls data came in broadly unchanged for August, disappointing investors hoping that the U.S. economy had added jobs over the month. Read more on U.S. August jobs report.
Economists at Capital Economics said that the current level of Nymex light-sweet crude oil is “representative of the weakness of US. demand and the still-high levels of [oil] stocks.”
They said that they expect further price-falls, “as underlying demand remains sluggish and the U.S. Federal Reserve disappoints those already anticipating another round of quantitative easing.”
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
