Crude prices below $75 in Asian trade

Sep 03, 2010 |

SINGAPORE

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Oil prices fell below $75 in Asian trade as traders took profit from gains made the previous day and braced for an expected weak US employment numbers, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, fell 26 cents to $74.76 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for October delivery, shed 35 cents to $76.58.

Traders were taking profit from a hike in crude prices on Thursday ahead of the release of the monthly US jobs report later on Friday, said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore.

"I think that given the rise in pricing yesterday... we are seeing some pullback due to the next big economic report that's going to come out of the US, which is the jobs report," he said.

Shum added that there were "concerns" that the report would highlight the flagging state of the US economic recovery.

The US Labor Department is widely expected by analysts to report non-farm payrolls — combining both government and private jobs — to shrink by 120,000 in August, with unemployment edging up to 9.6 per cent from 9.5 per cent rate.

Shum said the disruption of Americans' vacation plans in the last week of the summer driving season due to Hurricane Earl, which was bearing down on the US East Coast, would also weigh down crude markets.

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