Crude Steady, But Downside Pressures Mount On China's Data

Crude is struggling to hold onto Friday’s gains as Chinese manufacturing weakened sentiment, meanwhile tight ranges are prevailing as caution is rising ahead of Italy’s election results.

- Crude is trading as of this writing around the $ 93.15 per barrel compared with the opening at $93.22

- The highest for crude as of this writing is at $93.30 and the lowest is at $92.95

China released its HSBC flash manufacturing PMI for February which slipped to 50.4 from 52.3 the previous month, darkening the outlook for demand on oil from the world`s second biggest oil consumer.

Moreover, caution is rising as markets await the Italian election results. Italy is the third largest economy in the eurozone, and a stable government would pull Italy out of its economic slump and improve the outlook for the entire region.

While markets are also worried about the outcome of the U.S. budget talks which so far have failed, caution builds up ahead of Tuesday’s testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who may give clues on when the Fed may slow or stop buying bonds.

- Brent is trading as of this writing around the $ 114.18 a barrel after rising 0.07%

Markets will be watching with tight focus the meeting between Iran and the U.S., China, Germany, Russia, France and U.K. on February 26 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after an eight-month lapse in negotiations.

“Iran is still a significant producer and any major changes one way or the other to its production has the potential to have an impact on overall global supply”, said Ric Spooner from CMC Markets, Sydney.

- Natural gas is trading as of this writing at $ 3.344 per 1,000 cubic feet after rising 1.61%

- Heating oil is trading at $ 3.107 1 a gallon after rising 0.09%

- Gasoline is trading as of this writing at $ 3.1005 a gallon after rising 0.68%