Oil prices steady

Reuters

Singapore

Crude prices stabilized on Tuesday along with Asian stock markets, following heavy losses late in the previous session, although weak market fundamentals with production levels persistently above demand kept a lid on gains.

Brent crude LCOc1 was trading at $37.21 a barrel at 0740 GMT (2.40 a.m. ET), mostly unchanged from its previous close, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 edged up 10 cents to $36.86 per barrel. But both benchmarks were more than a dollar below highs reached in the previous session.

Trading on Monday was volatile. Prices first hit a three-week top as relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran soured after Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric, and then closed down on weak Asian and U.S. manufacturing data that indicated a gloomy oil demand outlook.