Oil Mildly Lower In Asia

Oil.....

Crude oil futures are trading mildly lower in Asia electronic session today taking cues from losses in the Asian equties. However , it stayed above $90 a barrel on some bargain hunting after the commodity tumbled 2.6% last week, the second consecutive weekly decline. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index sank 2.5%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1%. But Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.6%. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi traded down 0.3%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 1.2%. Light sweet crude futures for delivery in April is trading down 14 cents at $ 90.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, it fell 1.2% to settle the week at $90.92 a barrel. On the week, New York-traded oil futures lost 2.6%, the second consecutive weekly decline. Oil prices came under pressure after government data showed that manufacturing activity in China fell to a five-month low of 50.1 in February from a reading of 50.4 in January. Oil prices came under additional selling pressure as a broadly stronger U.S. dollar and worries over U.S. spending cuts, known as the sequester, weighed on the appeal of growth-linked assets. Oil prices were further weighed after weak manufacturing data out of the U.K. and the euro zone fuelled concerns over the outlook for global growth. Revised data showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone contracted in February at the same pace as in January, while the U.K. manufacturing sector suffered a shock contraction last month. MCX March crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 5000 per barrel with support near Rs 4970 and resistance near Rs 5040 levels. In the week ahead, oil traders will be focusing on Friday’s data on U.S. nonfarm payrolls, as investors attempt to gauge the strength of the economic recovery. Interest rate decisions by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan will also be in focus. Source by Commodity Insights