Crude oil futures slip 0.78% on global cues

Crude oil prices slipped by 0.78 per cent to Rs 4,732 per barrel in futures trade today as speculators off-loaded their holding on the back of weak global trend.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in March shed Rs 37, or 0.78 per cent, to Rs 4,732 per barrel, with a business volume of 94 lots.

Similarly, the oil for delivery in April fell by Rs 35, or 0.72 per cent, to Rs 4,817 per barrel, with an open interest of seven lots.

Market analysts attributed the fall in crude oil futures prices to a weak overseas trend, where the oil slipped for the first time in three days as speculation that fighting may subside in Libya eased concern that supply cuts will spread through the Middle East.

Meanwhile, crude for delivery in April shed 97 cents to $104.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.