Investors take a pause after high prices in the previous week
By Claudia Assis and Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures slipped Monday as investors took a breather after pushing the commodity to sharp gains at the end of last week following the release of U.S. jobs data.
Crude for September delivery CLU2 -0.35% retreated 31 cents, or 0.3%, to $91.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“For now, the market is comfortably supplied and this week we could see some more macro volatility,” with Nymex-traded oil and Brent, Europe’s benchmark, likely moving in line with the rest of the commodity complex, analysts at VTB Capital said in a note to clients.
They saw upside resistance for Nymex oil futures at $93 a barrel.
Oil prices soared on Friday, with the September contract ending the New York session up $4.27, or 4.9%, at $91.40 a barrel — its highest settlement price for two weeks.
The gains followed data that showed the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in July, with the pace of growth the fastest since February. Read more on payrolls data.
The dollar lost ground after the data, a move that often helps commodity futures priced in dollars. The dollar index DXY -0.06% reached 82.300 on Monday, down from 82.359 on Friday.
September natural-gas futures NGU12 -1.60% lost 3 cents, or 1.2%, to trade at $2.84 per million British thermal units. Natural gas has settled lower for the past four sessions.
September gasoline futures RBU2 -1.30% slipped 4 cents, or 1.3%, to $2.89 a gallon, while heating oil HOU2 -0.20% futures for delivery in the same month lost less than 1 cent, or 0.3%, to trade at $2.92 a gallon.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
