Forexpros - Crude oil futures were down on Monday, retreating from a one-week high as investors continued to fret over the global growth outlook and Greece's debt situation, as well as ongoing tension surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at USD106.73 a barrel during European morning trade, slumping 0.62%. It earlier fell by as much as 0.8% to trade at a daily low of USD106.54 a barrel. Prices rose to a one-week high of USD108.18 a barrel on Friday. Official data released over the weekend showed that China swung to a massive trade deficit of USD31.5 billion in February, the largest since 1989, from a surplus of USD27.3 billion in January. The data reflected a significant drop in exports, while imports rebounded after a Lunar New Year holiday slowdown. January-February export growth slowed to 6.9% over the same two-month period last year, barely half of December's 13.4% rate. Imports for the two months rose 7.7%. The lackluster trade data underlined fears over a global economic slowdown. Meanwhile, Greece announced Friday that more than 85% of its private creditors had signed up to a debt swap deal, aimed at restructuring 53.5% of the country’s debt. But concerns remained after the International Swaps and Derivatives Association said the debt swap constituted a “credit event� that would activate credit-default swaps, which designed to protect investors against losses on Greek sovereign debt. Worries about Europe's debt crisis will not fade away with the completion of the Greece debt swap deal, amid renewed concerns over the fiscal health of Spain and Portugal and lingering worries over downbeat growth prospects in the region. Later in the day, euro zone finance ministers were to hold talks in Brussels, to give their final approval to a EUR130 billion bailout for Greece. Ministers were also likely to discuss Spain, after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced earlier this month that the country would cut its public deficit to 5.8% of annual output, instead of the planned 4.4% this year. But losses were limited as oil prices continued to draw support from concerns over a potential disruption to supplies from Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the West over the weekend, saying the Islamic Republic does not fear military action. The stand-off between Iran and Western countries surrounding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program has dominated sentiment in the oil market for weeks. Fears that an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could set off a conflict across the region and send oil prices skyrocketing have been supporting prices in recent months. Iran produces about 3.5 million barrels of oil a day, making it the second largest oil producer in the OPEC, after Saudi Arabia. Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery was down 0.46% to trade at 124.77 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD18.04.

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