Oil down in Asian trade, stays above $76

I / Singapore February 4, 2010, 9:57 IST

Oil prices extended losses in Asian trade Thursday on a weaker equities market and a build-up in US crude inventories, analysts said.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, fell 17 cents to $76.81 per barrel.

London's Brent North Sea crude for March was down 30 cents to $75.62.

The market was hampered by weak stock markets in the US and Asia, said Ben Westmore, an energy and minerals economist with the National Australia Bank in Melbourne.

"There was a little bit of weakness in the equity markets overnight in the US and today the Asian session markets have been softer," he said.

Japanese and Hong Kong stocks fell after losses on Wall Street.

"There are some concerns about demand recovery as reflected in the equity markets and the big supply overhang especially in the US indicates that the outlook for the crude markets is a bit weak," Westmore said.

Gasoline or petrol reserves sank by 1.3 million barrels in the week ending January 29. That confounded market expectations for a gain of one million.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) added that inventories of distillates -- including diesel and heating fuel -- fell 900,000 barrels. Analysts had pencilled in an 800,000-barrel decline.