By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures traded lower Monday, losing steam as U.S. floor trading opened and U.S. new-home sales data showed a fourth straight monthly drop.
Crude for November delivery CL1X -1.54% retreated $1.20, or 1.4%, to $78.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A negative settlement would be oil’s fourth in a row. Futures settled 0.7% lower on Friday as investors rushed for cash on fears the European debt crisis would intensify and provoke a liquidity crunch, and the U.S. is headed for lower growth at best.
“The markets seem to have lost any faith that governments are capable of leading us back to solid growth,” analysts at Cameron Hanover said in a note to clients.
Oil lost 9.2% last week, including a 6.3% selloff on Thursday.
Monday’s main data point came in negative for oil. Sale of new U.S. homes fell 2.3% in August to an annual rate of 295,000, marking the fourth decline in a row, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
Sales last month dropped to the lowest level since February. After a peak at 316,000 in April, new-home sales have gradually declined.
Other energy products held close to the flatline. October gasoline RB1V -0.16% edged up less than a penny at $2.56 a gallon. October heating oil HO1V -0.31% declined less than 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $2.79 a gallon.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
