A man walks past an electric stock price indicator in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Japan’s benchmark index toppled off a 32-month high Wednesday after its currency’s downward slide went into reverse. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
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A man walks past an electric stock price indicator in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Japan’s benchmark index toppled off a 32-month high Wednesday after its currency’s downward slide went into reverse. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
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Men watch an electric stock price indicator in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Japan’s benchmark index toppled off a 32-month high Wednesday after its currency’s downward slide went into reverse. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
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A man watches an electric price display of a securities firm in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Japan’s benchmark index toppled off a 32-month high Wednesday after its currency’s downward slide went into reverse. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
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Philippine Stock Exchange President and CEO Hans Sicat, second from right, gestures as PSE treasurer Ma. Vivian Yuchengco rings the bell to signal the start of the first day of trading at Philippine Stock Exchange at the financial district of Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Wednesday Jan. 2, 2013. Stock markets in Asia registered relief Wednesday over the U.S. congressional vote to stop hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that risked plunging the world's biggest economy into recession. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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CORRECTS THE DATE - South Korean dancers in traditional costumes beat their drums during opening ceremony of the Year 2013 trading outside the Seoul Stock Exchange Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) started up 16.69 points, or 0.84 percent, at 2, 013.74. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
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CORRECTS THE DATE - Staff members of the Korea Stock Exchange Market salute to the national flag during the opening ceremony to commence the Year 2013 trading at the Seoul Stock Exchange Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) started up 16.69 points, or 0.84 percent, at 2, 013.74.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
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A Filipino trader blows a horn during the first day of trading at Philippine Stock Exchange at the financial district of Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Wednesday Jan. 2, 2013. Stock markets in Asia registered relief Wednesday over the U.S. congressional vote to stop hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that risked plunging the world's biggest economy into recession. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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In this Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, photo, a trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. World markets registered relief Wednesday Jan. 2, 2013 over the U.S. congressional vote to stop hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that risked plunging the world's biggest economy into recession. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The “fiscal cliff” compromise, for all its chaos and controversy, was enough to send the stock market shooting higher Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Oil price dips, trading muted on US public holiday
The price of crude oil slipped closer to $95 a barrel on Monday, with energy investors keeping to the sidelines as U.S. markets were closed for
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 9 cents to settle at $95.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 7 cents to finish at $95.56 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.
"Due to the lack of major economic indicators, investors will be looking for some direction to the global equity markets and the U.S. dollar movements," said a report from Sucden Financial Research in London.
A stronger dollar tends to put pressure on oil prices by making crude more expensive for traders using other currencies. On Monday, the euro was down against the dollar, to $1.3314 from $1.3375 on Friday.
A rise in stock markets did help limit losses in commodity markets, but sentiment remained fragile.
Concerns linger about the U.S. economy, with lawmakers wrangling over spending cuts and the nation's debt ceiling, which limits the amount of debt that U.S. government can take on. Though Republican lawmakers were expected to accept a temporary increase, a final deal is still not in sight.
Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, fell 9 cents to $111.80 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:
— Natural gas added 6 cents to $3.63 per 1,000 cubic feet.
— Wholesale gasoline rose a fraction of a cent to $2.798 per gallon.
— Heating oil rose 2 cents to $3.072 a gallon.
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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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