Crude down in Asia on Europe worries
Crude prices dipped in Asian trade Monday with eurozone worries plaguing markets as the year winds down, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, fell 81 cents to $92.72 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for February delivery shed 79 cents to $102.56. Traders shirked crude markets "as pessimism is surrounding the outlook for the European debt crisis," financial analysis website FXEmpire.com said in a report. "This week the focus will shift to the end of the year trading as this week is the last before the holiday infamous for low volume and tight ranged trading," the report added. Europe's debt woes were compounded on Friday when ratings agency Fitch revised its long-term outlook for regional economic powerhouse France to "negative" from "stable." Trading volumes are usually light in the last two weeks of the year as investors take a break for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
