Crude futures settled slightly down Monday after breaking the 143 U.S. dollars level for the first time amid mixed concerns over global oil supply and the trend of the dollar.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 21 cents to settle at 140 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fluctuated during the trading session, rising as high as 143.67 dollars a barrel and falling as low as 139.17 dollars a barrel.
The dollar rebounded and gained against the euro after the Chicago Purchasing Managers' index for June showed an increase to 49.6 from 49.1 in May, better than the market previously expected. The strengthening dollar helped the oil prices to pull back from new record high.
However, concerns on global crude supply remained as the market closely followed the tension between Iran and Israel as well as the disruptions of production in Africa's largest oil exporter Nigeria.
Meanwhile, a falling U.S. stock market has also prompted investors to flight to the higher-yielding investments such as oil and other commodities.
In London, Brent crude for August delivery touched a record high of 143.91 dollars before pulling back to settle at 139.83 dollars a barrel, trading down 48 cents.
Source:Xinhua
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