Oil Falls Below $65...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Oil fell to a five-week low of below $65 a barrel on Monday, after posting three weeks of losses, as doubts over the prospects of an early global economic recovery encouraged investors to take profit. But oil's decline could be curbed by news of fresh attacks on oil installations in Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer. Nigerian militants said on Monday they had attacked Chevron's Okan oil manifold in the Niger Delta, a day after saying they had launched their third attack on Royal Dutch Shell's oil well head. US crude for August delivery fell around 50 cents by 0319 GMT from prices in late electronic trade on Friday, and was down $1.75 to $64.98 a barrel from Thursday's close. London Brent crude fell $0.70 to $64.91, adding to Friday's losses of $1.04. NYMEX floor trading was closed on Friday because of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, and although oil contracts were trading electronically, NYMEX did not issue an official closing price. &quot;Two major pieces of data will be remembered from the past week, the UK economy shrank by 2.4 per cent, the biggest contraction since 1958, and the unemployment figure from the US, which hit 26-year high of 9.5 per cent,&quot; said Stefano Vincelli, an equities and derivatives trader from Halifax Investments in Sydney. &quot;Overall, the supply and demand picture for crude is still a bearish number.&quot; Asian stocks were soggy and currencies were subdued ahead of a much-expanded Group of Eight meeting this week as investors doubted the staying power of a global recovery. Japan's Nikkei slipped 1.6 per cent while Asian shares outside Japan eased 1.1 per cent. Investors are still smarting from last week's dismal US jobs report, which showed U.S. employers cut 467,000 jobs in June and the jobless rate hit a 26-year high. Societe Generale said the correction in oil prices, which surged 42 per cent in the last quarter amid over-hyped markets, was long-anticipated and predicted that oil prices would continue falling and average around $60 a barrel in July. &quot;Non-fundamental price support, based on economic optimism, risk appetite, and increasing medium to long-term inflation expectations, has faded for now,&quot; Michael Wittner, global head of oil research at Societe Generale, said in a research note. As bearish sentiment returned, analysts said movements in the U.S dollar, which nudged up slightly on Monday, could play a greater role in influencing oil prices this week. (Reuters)