Oil prices eased in volatile trade on Monday as some bearish economic news from the United States and Germany offset bullish support from a weaker U.S. dollar and forecasts for increased heating demand for energy from a winter storm.

After rising for five days in a row, Brent futures fell 21 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $76.30 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 40 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $73.56.

Despite those declines, both crude benchmarks remained in technically overbought territory for a third day in a row.

On Friday, Brent settled at its highest level since Oct. 14 and WTI closed at its highest since Oct. 11 due in part on expectations of more fiscal stimulus to revitalise China's faltering economy.

With interest in energy trade growing in recent weeks, open interest in WTI futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange soared to 1.933 million contracts on Friday, the most since June 2023.

In the United States, the world's biggest economy, new orders for manufactured goods fell in November amid weakness in demand for commercial aircraft while business spending on equipment appeared to have slowed in the fourth quarter, according to data from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

In Germany, Europe's biggest economy, annual inflation rose more than forecast in December due to higher food prices and a smaller drop in energy prices than in previous months.

Source : Reuters