>Nymex crude down on profit taking; econ unease

Singapore - Crude oil futures lost ground Monday in Asia as traders opted to take profit amid a lack of upside leadership from regional equities.

Sentiment remained cautious despite the recent run-up in oil and share prices, as concerns over the health of the global economy lingered amid steep job losses and bloated crude inventories in key markets.

"We continue to worry about demand in oil markets," said Peter Beutel, president at trading advisory firm Cameron Hanover.

"The assumption is that consumption will rebound if the economy turns. Nonetheless, the four-week aggregate averages seem to be getting worse each week."

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at $57.98 a barrel at 0658 GMT, down 65 cents in the Globex electronic session.

Nymex heating oil for June slipped 134 points to 150.50 cents a gallon, while June reformulated gasoline blendstock traded at 168.25 cents, 230 points lower.

Nymex crude Friday spiked to $58.57 a barrel, the highest intraday price since Nov. 17, as traders interpreted a slower-than-expected pace in U.S. job losses as a sign the economy may be bottoming out.

The Labor Department said 539,000 nonfarm jobs were lost last month, lifting unemployment to 8.9% - the highest rate in a quarter century.

Still, oil analysts cautioned the market's near-term outlook remained uncertain, particularly with fundamentals staying weak.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration May 6 reported the country's crude stockpiles rose for the ninth straight week to 375.3 million barrels, the highest since 1990, despite aggressive output cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"Macroeconomic expectations certainly do seem to have stabilized and then begun a process of some improvement," analysts at Barclays Capital, led by Paul Horsnell, said in a report late Friday.

"Stronger price performance and a better macroeconomic environment - at least in terms of expectations - are both positive for market sentiment, but the jury is still out as to when the flow of oil market data could become the dominant source of support for oil."

Looking ahead, a slew of official reports are due this week, potentially offering further clues of where global oil consumption may be headed.

The EIA will release its monthly report Tuesday as well as its outlook for summer fuels demand, followed by OPEC on Wednesday, then the International Energy Agency, the energy security watchdog of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, on Thursday.

At 0658 GMT, oil prices on London's ICE Futures exchange were mixed, with June Brent crude down 59 cents at $57.55 a barrel.

Gasoil for May, expiring Tuesday, changed hands at $481.25 a metric ton, chalking up $4.25 from Friday's settlement.

MCX crude oil erodes early gain

Mumbai - Crude oil at MCX eroded the early gain and traded in the negative territory during the evening session Monday. The domestic market fell down in unison with international market which tumbled by more than 2.80 per cent during the intra day session. The investors preferred to book profit ahead of the OPEC meeting.

The uncertainty on the economic recovery is still hanging on the market sentiments, keeping the prices down below USD 58 a barrel.

June Crude oil at New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) was seen to trade at USD 57.13 [-1.50] a barrel. The market made high of USD 58.60 during the intra day session.

The price of crude oil at MCX was traded lower at 6.03 PM as May contract quoted at Rs 2831.00 [-26.00] a barrel. The contract traded in a range of Rs 2878-2812 a barrel. The far month contracts also traded down as June and July contract quoted at Rs 2888.00 [-31.00] and Rs 2940.00 [-34.00] a barrel each respectively.

OPEC meeting provides oil price uncertainty

London - Outcome of the upcoming OPEC meeting provides uncertainty for the oil market short-term, says Edward Meir at MF Global. "The cartel may feel under pressure to go along with yet another round of cuts, as hawks in the group argue that, despite rising prices, crude stockpiles are increasing and could derail the recent gains, perhaps once the recent infatuation with equities is over...On the other hand, if political pressures prevail, OPEC may pass on the cuts altogether, stressing increased compliance instead." ICE June Brent -93c at $57.21/bbl, Nymex June light, sweet -$1.07 at $57.56/bbl.

Source: COMMODITIESCONTROL