Price of oil falls below $96 a barrel

(Photo: Julien Tromeur, Flickr)

The price of oil fell Monday, wiping away some of the gains posted late last week on the heels of a positive U.S. employment report.

Benchmark oil for July delivery fell 42 cents to $95.61 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract for benchmark crude rose $1.27 to close at $96.03 a barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

Commodity markets are torn between relatively healthy economic indicators in the U.S. and softer ones in China.

A jobs report on Friday showed the U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in May — a steady pace that shows the recovery continues, but also indicates the Federal Reserve will not end its monetary stimulus just yet.

In China, however, lower-than-expected inflation data reflected weak demand in the world’s second-largest economy, which is also a major energy consumer.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, fell 37 cents to $104.19 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 1 cent to $2.86 a gallon.

— Heating oil fell less than 0.1 cent to $2.89 per gallon.

— Natural gas was flat at $3.83 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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