Oil futures slid further downhill in electronic trade early Monday, with a rising dollar helping weigh on the commodity. Benchmark Nymex crude futures for February CLG5, -1.99% fell by $1.07, or 2%, to $51.62 a barrel on the Globex platform.
The contract -- which lost 1.1% in New York Mercantile Exchange action Friday -- traded as low as $51.40 earlier in the day, according to Reuters data, marking the weakest level for a front-month Nymex oil future since May 2009.
Rival benchmark Brent North Sea crude LCOG5, -1.61% retreated 99 cents, or 1.8%, to $55.43 a barrel, extending a 0.2% drop on Friday. It too touched its lowest price since May 2009, Reuters said.
Tokyo (Nikkei Average) up 0.4%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index) up 0.5% (at break)
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index) up 2.4% (at break)
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200) flat
Seoul (Kospi) down 0.7%
Mumbai (Sensex) up 0.2%
Taipei (Taiex) down 0.7%
Asian markets were mixed on Monday as the first full week of 2015 got under way, while the euro hit a nine-year low against the dollar at one point on growing expectations of fresh European Central Bank stimulus.
Oil extended its losses to sit at five-and-a-half-year lows due to signs of further weakening in the eurozone economy, with both contracts falling towards US$50 a barrel.
Tokyo slipped 0.68 per cent by the break, Hong Kong lost 0.70 per cent, Shanghai gained 0.74 per cent, Sydney added 0.24 per cent and Seoul was 0.91 per cent lower.
The year got off to a tentative start after a broadly positive end to 2014 for most markets.
While there are few catalysts to drive business this week, eyes will be on the release on Friday of US jobs data. Traders are already in broad agreement that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates around the middle of the year and another strong batch of employment figures will reinforce that view.
