Forexpros – Crude oil futures fell on Monday on soft Chinese service-sector data as well as on weak U.S. jobs numbers, which depict a cooling global economy.
On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the world’s largest economy added a net 69,000 nonfarm payrolls in May, far below expectations for a gain of 150,000.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD82.75 a barrel in Asian trading Monday, down 0.58%, off from a session high of USD83.36 and up from an earlier session low of USD82.45.
Tepid U.S. jobs numbers continued to fuel expectations that the broader U.S. economy will remain sluggish and need less fuels to grow.
Meanwhile in Europe, June 17 elections in Greece are just two weeks away, and expectations persist the ballot could thrust enough politicians into power who favor abandoning austerity measures attached to bailout payments, which could open the door to a Greek exit from the currency zone.
Spain has found itself under increasing strain and may issue debt to prop up its banking sector and help regional governments finance their debts.
A Chinese non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for the service sector fell to 55.2 in May from 56.1 in April, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing report.
A reading above 50 signifies expansion.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for July delivery were down 0.53% and trading at USD98.22 a barrel, up USD15.47 from its U.S. counterpart.
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