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Monday 10 August 2009

North Sea oil inches up in early Asian trade

Benchmark Brent moved up 20 cents to $73.79 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in Singapore trade at around midday local time. Elsewhere, WTI benchmark crude for September delivery was up 17 cents to $71.10 a barrel at about the same time in Singapore in electronic trade on the NYMEX.

Traders said investors were sifting for indications over the next few days that consumers of the world's biggest oil consuming nation, the United States, were getting more bullish and spending more. Traders added that crude prices have oscillated around the $71-$72 mark with buyers attention on getting a feel for just how strong a recovery the US economy will experience in 2009.

Last week, on Friday, the market was suprised when the US unemployment rate retreated to 9.4% in June. This week all eyes will be on US retail sales for July, to gauge consumer sentiment. Also, there will be a string of key corporate results that will be closely watched for the same reason, including Q2 numbers from Macy's and Wal-Mart Stores.

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