By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Oil futures saw little movement during East Asian trading hours Monday, with most markets in the region closed for holiday.
Crude oil for March delivery CLH3 -0.14% was recently off 9 cents at $95.63 a barrel after easing 0.1% during Friday’s regular New York Mercantile Exchange session.
London-traded March Brent North Sea crude UK:LCOH3 -0.51% fell 50 cents to $118.40 a barrel. The European benchmark had surged 1.4% Friday on the back of data showing strong Chinese oil imports in January. Read: Nymex oil settles lower; Brent at 9-month high
“There’s nothing to say that Brent crude oil can’t maintain its independence and strengthen even further in the near term, but its current ... premium over [Nymex crude] and $118.90 per barrel outright price tag already look expensive,” said analysts at Citi Futures late Friday.
While geopolitical risks were also cited for Brent’s Friday rally, Citi Futures said the support from China’s trade data seemed a more shaky proposition, given the volatility of the Chinese numbers, as well as seasonal factors affecting January’s data set.
Offering some support for oil prices Monday, the U.S. dollar traded slightly lower, with the ICE dollar index DXY +0.09% slipping to 80.192, down from late Friday’s 80.234.
A weaker dollar can boost oil prices, which are priced in dollars, as it makes the commodity cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Meanwhile, several news reports from the region said Asian oil trading for the week would likely be light, given the Lunar New Year and other holidays. Key markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were all closed Monday.
Other energy futures saw similarly muted action Monday, as gasoline for March delivery RBH3 -0.68% lost 1 cent or 0.3% to $3.05 a gallon, March heating oil HOH3 -0.10% held steady at $3.24 a gallon, and March natural gas NGH13 -0.46% fell by 1 cent or 0.3% to $3.26 per million British thermal units.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
