NYMEX-Crude falls after settling at 6-week high

TOKYO, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell on Monday after settling at a six-week high on Friday, taking their cue from a decline in U.S. stock futures amid uncertainty over talks to avert an unprecedented U.S. default.

FUNDAMENTALS

* NYMEX crude for September delivery was down 61 cents at $99.26 a barrel by 2300 GMT, after settling up 74 cents at a six-week high of $99.87 on Friday.

* London Brent crude for September delivery was down 55 cents at $118.12 a barrel, after settling up $1.16 at $118.67 on Friday.

* U.S. highway travel fell for the third consecutive month in May, reflecting higher gasoline prices, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Friday.

Overall, highway travel for the first five months of the year was down 1 percent from the same period in 2010, the department said.

* Hedge funds and other large investors increased their bets on higher oil prices for a third straight week up to July 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.

The speculator group upped its net long futures and options position in New York by 13,453 to 182,285 during the period, an increase of almost 8 percent.

* North Korea has proposed restarting stalled six-party talks on nuclear disarmament, without preconditions and as soon as possible, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

MARKETS NEWS

* U.S. stock index futures fell more than 1.0 percent on Sunday as the failure by the government to come to an agreement on the debt ceiling made the prospects for a default -- once considered an impossible outcome -- more likely.

Wall Street is set to close its worst three months in a year as July draws to an end after a roller-coaster ride for markets.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 43.25 points or 0.34 percent to 12,681.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.22 points or 0.09 percent to 1,345.02.

* The dollar slipped in early Asia-Pacific trade on Monday as investors looked for signs of progress to break the deadlock that will avert a U.S. debt default.

White House officials and Republican leaders scrambled to give assurances that the United States would avert a debt default, but the two sides did not appear to be moving closer to a deal.

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Monday: (Time in GMT)

- 1230 - US National Activity Index/Jun

- 0600 - Germany GfK consumer sentiment/Aug

- 0645 - France Consumer confidence/Jul

- 0830 - UK GDP prelim/Q2

- 1145 - US ICSC chain stores/weekly (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Michael Watson)