Business? News: Oil was lower in Asian trade on Monday as the under-pressure dollar made some modest gains against the major currencies, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery eased 13 cents to 81.12 dollars a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for December delivery was 25 cents lower at 82.20 dollars a barrel.
"It (the dollar) will continue to be a major factor," said Ong Yi Ling, a Singapore-based investment analyst in the precious metals market and crude oil with Phillip Capital.
"When you see weakness in the dollar, there is increased interest in commodities as an asset class," she said.
A weak greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities like oil cheaper for buyers holding rival currencies, thereby boosting investor demand.
When the dollar strengthens, the opposite occurs.
In early Asian trade, the euro was trading at 1.3905 dollars compared with 1.3973 in New York late Friday while the dollar was quoted at 81.31 yen versus 81.44 yen.
Analysts expect the dollar to weaken further in the coming months after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday said that the central bank was ready to ramp up extraordinary measures to prime the economy amid sky-high unemployment and the risk of crippling deflation.
He said that the current inflation rate was too low and raised the specter of deflation, which would spell a debilitating spiral of lower prices and wages that would send firms to the wall.
"The risk of deflation is higher than desirable," he said.
Bernanke's comments raised already elevated expectations that the Fed is ready to pump billions into the financial system, in what is known as quantitative easing. :
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