SINGAPORE: Brent crude hovered around $100 a barrel on Monday, finding some support from bargain hunters after three straight weeks of lower prices on worries about the world economy and the impact on fuel demand.
Brent has lost 10 percent since the start of April as growth in the United States and China -- the world's two largest oil consumers -- slowed, while recession in Europe deepened.
Expectations of weaker demand growth have also hit other commodities, leading to a 1.4 percent fall in the bellwether Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index last week.
June Brent crude had risen 37 cents to $100.02 a barrel by 0425 GMT, bouncing from the lowest level since July 2012 on Wednesday. US crude for June delivery was up 41 cents to $88.42 a barrel after a 3.6 percent loss last week.
"We have seen quite a bit of bargain hunting in commodities, particularly gold and to a lesser extent for oil," said Ric Spooner, chief markets analyst at CMC Global Markets in Sydney.
"We've a long way to go to really suggest that we're looking at anything more than a bounce."
Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude would have to rally past $107 and $91.60 a barrel respectively to suggest a major change in sentiment, he added.
"We're in a market where there's plenty of supply capacity and a very modest growth outlook that risks downside towards $80 for WTI," Spooner said.
Technical charts showed that Brent may revisit its April 16 low of $98 a barrel, after it failed to rise past a resistance at $100.47, while US crude could fall to $86.82, Reuters markets analyst Wang Tao said.
Hedge funds and other large speculators cut their net long US crude futures and options positions in the week to April 16, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.
Brent's fall below $100 prompted comments from oil hawks Iran and Venezuela on Thursday that OPEC could call for an emergency meeting ahead of one scheduled on May 31, although there is no indication of such a meeting yet.
Worries over a sluggish world recovery persisted with finance leaders of G20 economies edging away from a long-running drive toward government austerity in rich nations, rejecting the idea of setting hard targets to cut national debt.
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