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LONDON—Make Money Blog$, Crude-oil futures were mixed as investors are switching attention from Hurricane Irene and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech to economic news from the U.S. and Europe.
Ahead of the New York day, the front-month October contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 69 cents, or 0.8%, at $86.06 a barrel. The front-month October Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was down 10 cents, or 0.1%, at $111.23 a barrel.
Expectations of Hurricane Irene shutting down many refineries in the U.S. over the weekend and disrupting oil supplies, which were providing some support to prices last week, didn't come true, said Torbjorn Kjus, DnB NOR oil market analyst.
"If the storm was positive on demand for D batteries and plywood [in the U.S.], it will be negative for gasoline demand, as the population of the Northeast spent the weekend at home rather than driving," Petromatrix said in a research note.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bernanke used "very cautious language on further monetary action" to support the U.S. economy, the world's largest oil consumer, in his Friday speech, SEB commodity strategist Filip Petersson said. Brent crude price will be pressured if the boost from Mr. Bernanke' speech "starts to lose some of its punch," he added.
"With the Fed and the hurricane headlines fading, investor concern should shift to more intractable issues, such as slowing global macro trends and European debt issues," MF Global said in a research note.
Sharp movements in oil futures are unlikely Monday as a result of this shift, Mr. Kjus said.
Market participants will be paying attention to U.S. July personal income and spending data and U.S. pending home sales due later Monday for further clues on the state of the U.S. economy amid fear of a double-dip recession.
Europe's sovereign debt situation, which has been overshadowed by U.S. news in recent days, is likely to be back in focus, analysts said. Not much progress has been reported on a second Greek bailout package in recent days, MF Global said.
Worries over the world's economic growth slowing and, as a result, cutting demand for oil, are likely to pressure oil prices in the coming weeks, Mr. Kjus said.
"It will be difficult for oil markets to maintain these [high] prices," he said.
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