Investing.com – Crude oil futures were down on Monday, as escalating fears over debt levels in the U.S. and the euro zone raised concerns over a slowdown in global oil demand, while a broadly stronger U.S. dollar also weighed.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at USD97.15 a barrel during European morning trade, slipping 0.59%.
It earlier fell as much as 0.85% to trade at a daily low of USD96.91 a barrel.
U.S. President Barack Obama said over the weekend that the U.S. government was “running out of time” in regards to negotiations over lifting the country’s USD14.3 trillion debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said that a U.S. debt default would cause panic throughout the financial system and long-term uncertainty.
Ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s both warned last week that a failure to raise the debt limit in time would result in a downgrade in the credit rating of the world’s largest crude oil consumer.
Meanwhile, data on Friday showed that manufacturing activity in the New York-region unexpectedly contracted for a second month in July, while U.S. consumer sentiment in early July fell to its lowest since March 2009.
A separate report showed that U.S. industrial production rose less-than-expected in June.
In Europe, finance ministers from the region were to meet Thursday to focus on “the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek program,” according to the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.
The dollar rose to a three-day high against the single currency, while the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies climbed 0.7% to trade at 75.93.
Oil prices typically weaken when the U.S. currency strengthens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for September delivery sank 1.1% to trade at USD116.34 a barrel, up USD19.19 on its U.S. counterpart.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at USD97.15 a barrel during European morning trade, slipping 0.59%.
It earlier fell as much as 0.85% to trade at a daily low of USD96.91 a barrel.
U.S. President Barack Obama said over the weekend that the U.S. government was “running out of time” in regards to negotiations over lifting the country’s USD14.3 trillion debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said that a U.S. debt default would cause panic throughout the financial system and long-term uncertainty.
Ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s both warned last week that a failure to raise the debt limit in time would result in a downgrade in the credit rating of the world’s largest crude oil consumer.
Meanwhile, data on Friday showed that manufacturing activity in the New York-region unexpectedly contracted for a second month in July, while U.S. consumer sentiment in early July fell to its lowest since March 2009.
A separate report showed that U.S. industrial production rose less-than-expected in June.
In Europe, finance ministers from the region were to meet Thursday to focus on “the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek program,” according to the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.
The dollar rose to a three-day high against the single currency, while the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies climbed 0.7% to trade at 75.93.
Oil prices typically weaken when the U.S. currency strengthens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for September delivery sank 1.1% to trade at USD116.34 a barrel, up USD19.19 on its U.S. counterpart.