Oil Futures Edge Lower As Dollar Inches Up

Benchmark U.S. oil futures edged lower in Asian trading hours on Monday, pressured by a mild recovery for the U.S. dollar.

Crude-oil futures for October delivery CLV2 declined 10 cents to $96.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In New York trading on Friday, oil futures climbed 89 cents to end at $96.42 a barrel. Read more on Friday’s oil action.

Data out at the end of last week showed that U.S. job growth slowed in August. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 96,000, well below market estimates for about 125,000 new jobs, and under July’s 141,000 reading. Read more on U.S. jobs data.

The U.S. dollar fell sharply after the jobs report triggered more speculation of further bond buying by Federal Reserve, but the currency managed to pare a fraction of Friday’s losses in Asian trading Monday. A weaker dollar tends to benefit commodities that are priced in dollars, such as oil.

The ICE dollar index DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded at 80.286, up from 80.249 in late North American trading Friday. Read more on dollar.

Elsewhere in the energy complex, October gasoline RBV2 rose 1 cent to $3.03 a gallon, while October heating oil HOV2 also rose 1 cent to $3.15 a gallon.

Natural-gas for October delivery NGV12 declined 2 cents to $2.67 per million British thermal units.

Marketwatch