Oil hovers below $74 per barrel

Oil prices hovered below USD 74 a barrel on Friday in Asia amid a strengthening dollar.

Oil prices hovered near a six-week low below USD 74 a barrel on Friday in Asia amid a strengthening US dollar and a pullback in global stock markets.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 10 cents to USD 73.74 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract fell 3 cents to settle at USD 73.64 on on Thursday,the lowest since Dec 14 when crude dropped to USD 73.46.

Oil has skidded about 12 per cent since reaching USD 84 a barrel earlier this month as investors eye a stronger dollar and slumping equities.

Traders often buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar and sell them when the US currency rises.

The euro fell to USD 1.3930 on Friday in Asia from USD 1.3972 on Thursday while the dollar little changed near 90 yen.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.1 per cent on Thursday while most Asian stock markets fell in early on Friday trading.

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Investors are also looking at US crude demand,which has so far not rebounded strongly from a slide last year.

“A clear turning point in the US demand cycle is yet to be reached,still waiting for distillate demand to kick in,” Barclays Capital said in a report.