WTI oil futures decline in Memorial Day trade

Investing.com - Crude oil futures declined on Monday, as trade volumes were light with U.K. markets closed for a public holiday and markets in the U.S. remaining shut for the Memorial Day holiday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for July delivery shed 30 cents, or 0.5%, to trade at $59.42 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. Prices held in a range between $59.11 and $60.01.

On Friday, Nymex oil lost $1.00, or 1.65%, to end at $59.72 after data showed that the decline in U.S. drilling slowed down last week.

According to industry research group Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by only one last week to 659, marking the 24th straight week of declines.

Oil traders have been paying close attention to the shrinking rig count in recent months for signs it will eventually reduce the glut of crude flowing into the market.

However, the rate of decline has slowed in recent weeks, fuelling concerns that some shale oil companies will dial up their output in the months ahead if prices stabilize near current levels.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.25% at 96.50 early Monday, the strongest level since April 28.

The dollar strengthened broadly on Friday after data showed that U.S. core consumer prices rose 0.3% in April and were 1.8% higher on a year-over-year basis, the largest increase since October.

The greenback received an additional boost after Fed Chair Janet Yellen reiterated that the bank still expected to start raising interest rates later this year if the economy continued to improve as expected.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for July delivery inched up 7 cents, or 0.11%, to trade at $65.44 a barrel. Brent prices declined $1.17, or 1.76%, on Friday to close at $65.37.

The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $6.02 a barrel early on Wednesday, compared to $5.65 by close of trade on Friday.

Concerns over the prospect of a Greek default continued to dominate market sentiment. Greece’s Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis warned on Sunday that the country would be unable to make a €305 million payment to the International Monetary Fund due on June 5 if a cash-for-reforms deal with its international lenders is not reached by then.