Forexpros –
Forexpros – Crude oil futures traded slightly lower Monday, as global growth concerns and mixed U.S. economic data weighed on the commodity.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at USD103.32 a barrel during U.S. afternoon trade, dropping 0.04%.
It earlier fell by as much as 0.95% to trade at USD102.35 a barrel, the lowest since April 11.
Helping boost oil prices, data indicated retail sales in the U.S. increased more-than-expected in March, building on the previous month’s strong gain.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported retail sales climbed by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in March, beating expectations for a modest 0.3% gain.
February’s figure was revised to a 1.0% increase from a previously reported gain of 1.1%.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose by 0.8% last month, above expectations for a 0.6% gain, after rising by 0.9% in February.
A separate report showed that an index of manufacturing conditions in New York deteriorated in April, growing at the slowest pace since November.
However, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index declined by 13.6 points to 6.6 in April from 20.2 in March. Analysts had expected the index to decline by 2.2 points to 18.0 in April.
Oil futures traded substantially lower during Asian and early European trading hours as fears over increasing Spanish borrowing costs triggered investors to avoid riskier assets and move in to the relative safety of the U.S. dollar.
The cost of insuring Spanish sovereign debt against default climbed to a fresh record earlier, amid fears that the country will be the next euro zone member to require a bailout.
Spanish 10-year yields rose above the key 6.0%-level in early trade Monday, striking 6.15%, the highest since December 1. Similar-maturity Italian yields increased to 5.66%, while Portuguese yields rocketed to 12.73%.
In addition, subduing market sentiment were Chinese growth figures released on Friday, indicating that the Chinese economy grew at the slowest pace in almost three years in the first quarter.
China is the world’s second largest oil consumer after the U.S. and has been the engine of strengthening demand.
A deeper slowdown in China may impair a global expansion that is already weakening because of the implementation of harsh austerity measures in Europe.
Meanwhile, Iran and six world powers met over the weekend in Turkey to discuss Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
According to delegates that attended the meeting, progress was made with the negotiators planning to meet again on May 23 for a follow-up meeting.
The stand-off between Iran and Western countries has dominated sentiment in the oil market in recent months, pushing up prices from USD75 a barrel in October to as high as USD110 in early March.
However, prices have been under pressure in recent weeks as the market is now balancing assurances from Saudi Arabia that it would make up for any supply shortfalls against the potential risk for the loss of oil from Iran.
The nation’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi helped support markets on Friday when he stated that there is currently no shortage in global oil supply. Furthermore, Mr. al-Naimi added that his country was determined to see lower prices.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are the two largest oil producers and exporters among OPEC members.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery tumbled 2% to trade at 118.81 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD16.32 a barrel.
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