Oil prices hovered near $91 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as investors looked to US economic indicators for evidence to justify the recent crude rally.
Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 5 cents to $91.05 a barrel late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 51 cents to settle at $91 on Monday.
Traders this week will be closely watching the latest data on US consumer confidence, home sales and jobless claims for signs the economic recovery may be gaining traction.
There's a "dynamic of a significant demand improvement both within the US and globally," Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report. "We look for the market to seize upon even minor bullish tidbits."
Oil traded in the $70s for most of this year, but has surged in the fourth quarter to a two-year high last week amid strong crude consumption growth in emerging economies and optimism that demand in the U.S. is slowly recovering from last year's recession.
This week trading volume is light as many traders take time off around the year-end holidays. Global oil markets are closed Friday for New Year's Day.
In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil was steady at $2.52 a gallon, gasoline futures fell 0.2 cent to $2.42 a gallon and natural gas dropped 3.1 cents to $4.08 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude fell 12 cents to $93.73 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Bond prices rise after
Chinese rate hike
Bond prices rose Monday after China moved to raise interest rates to slow the pace of its economic expansion.
Trading remained spotty the day after the Christmas holiday weekend, as the remnants of a blizzard in the Northeast disrupted much of the financial industry. Stock and bond markets saw little volume during a week that has traditionally been one of the quietest of the year.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note rose to 28.4 cents per $100 invested. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 3.34% from 3.39% late Thursday. Bond markets were closed Friday for the Christmas holiday.
Bond prices had been falling lately as investors begin to pull their money out of bond funds. Better US economic news and the extension of favorable tax rates have given a boost to stock market indexes, making bonds a less appealing bet for long-term investors.
In other trading, the 30-year bond fell to a yield of 4.40% from 4.47%. The two-year yield slipped to 0.65%from 0.67%.
The yield on the three-month Treasury bill rose to 0.137% from 0.13%. Its discount was 0.13%.
Euro climbs above $1.32
in thin trading
The euro has gained a little more ground against the dollar and climbed above $1.32 in thin post-Christmas trading.
The European currency was up to $1.3218 yesterday morning European trading from $1.3144 in New York late Monday.
The euro has been weighed down for weeks by worries about Europe's government debt crisis but has drifted higher over the holiday period.
The British pound was up to $1.5443 from $1.5404 and the dollar slipped to 82.43 Japanese yen from 82.84 yen.
Over the weekend, China raised its key interest rate for the second time in three months amid rising inflation. Fears of a slowdown in China weighed on stocks worldwide Monday but there was little reaction in currency trading.