LONDON: World oil prices diverged on Monday in a mixed start to the week, as some traders took profits and eyed ongoing worries over the strength of US energy demand, analysts said.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June dropped six cents to $103.10 per barrel in early afternoon deals in London.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June, added 35 cents to $93.35 per barrel.
"Following last week's gains, market players are clearly choosing to take profits while they can," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
The oil market had rebounded last week, boosted by positive sentiment, geopolitical tensions in Syria, hopes of an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank, and signs of strengthening US energy demand.
However, sentiment was hit by Friday's weaker-than-expected US economic growth data.
"The weak (US) GDP data questions business conditions in the market, signalling that inventories may rise as demand softens," said Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore.
The United States is the world's biggest economy and oil consumer.
The US Commerce Department said Friday the economy grew 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013, below the average analyst forecast of 2.8 percent, with cuts in government spending offsetting private consumption and investment gains.
Federal government spending, hit by the "sequester", continued to drag on the economy.
The $85-billion across-the-board spending cuts over seven months officially came into effect on March 1, with the aim of rapidly paring the country's large deficit.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.