By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures slipped in electronic trading Monday, as a stronger dollar crimped demand for the commodity.
Oil for June delivery CLM2 -0.11% edged down 13 cents at $103.75 a barrel in electronic trading.
Crude for delivery in May rose 78 cents, or 0.8%, to $103.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before expiring on Friday.
Monday’s weakness for oil came as the ICE dollar index DXY +0.16% traded at 79.25, from 79.140 in late North American trading on Friday.
The dollar edged higher after news out late Sunday that Socialist challenger for the French presidency, François Hollande, would lead incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy into the second round.
Hollande has vowed that if he wins, he would reopen Europe’s recently-negotiated fiscal compact, which aims to bring tougher budget rules across the currency bloc. Read more on currencies.
Meanwhile a “flash” reading of the HSBC Chinese manufacturing PMI gauge out Monday showed that the index rose to 49.1 in April, from a final reading of 48.3 in March, but remained below the 50 mark signaling contraction. Read more on China PMI.
Around the rest of the energy complex, May natural gas NGK12 +0.67% rose 1 cent to $1.94 per million British thermal units, May gasoline RBK2 +0.02% traded flat at $3.11 a gallon while May heating-oil HOK2 -0.05% climbed 1 cent to $3.14 per gallon.
