By Ga-Woon Philip Vahn Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures were rangebound in Asia Friday as investors consolidated positions following a recent rising streak and ahead of the Christmas weekend. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $99.98 a barrel at 0732 GMT, up $0.45 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.28 to $108.17 a barrel. Market participants said asset managers were liquidating oil and commodity holdings ahead of year-end holidays, while industrial players were busy settling bills and accounts in the physical market. "The U.S. oil benchmark's uptrend seems to have stalled near the $100 mark, and I don't think even the most bullish players are willing to add to positions at this time of the year," a sales manager at S-Oil Corp said. Still, speculators were active and "crude prices could end the year on a high note thanks to a batch of better-than-expected economic readings in the U.S. and the ongoing geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran," a trader at SK Energy in Singapore said. Risk sentiment continued to improve, with equities and the euro posting decent gains in Asian trade after a healthier U.S. jobs market reading Thursday brightened the prospects for growth recovery in the world's biggest economy. However, some market participants said profit taking will likely dominate sentiment as the year-end approaches, while investors are expected to resume focusing on the euro-zone debt situation early next year. "We are still viewing the unresolved debt issues across southern Europe as a latent bearish consideration to the oil complex," energy consulting firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note. "This implied likelihood of a renewed 'risk off' environment could be developing within a week when many hedge funds, etc will be looking to book profits out of long positions prior to the New Year, with nearby crude values roughly 12% above median futures prices across this quarter." Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for January--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 42 points to $2.6440 a gallon, while January heating oil traded at $2.9144, 68 points higher. ICE gasoil for January changed hands at $920.75 a metric ton, up $1.25 from Thursday's settlement. -By Ga-Woon Philip Vahn, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-64154149; philip.vahn@dowjones.com

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