Crude oil futures stable amid lack of fresh cues, geopolitical risks

0305 GMT: Crude oil futures were largely stable during mid-morning trade in Asia Monday amid lack of fresh cues, while ongoing geopolitical risks helped to keep prices supported.

At 11:05 am Singapore time (0305 GMT), front-month ICE Brent September futures slipped 2 cents/b (0.03%) from Friday's settle at $64.21/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude futures contract was 17 cents/b (0.3%) higher at $57.58/b.

"Prices have stabilized in the past week, with Brent hovering around $62/b-$65/b and WTI around $56/b-$59/b. We expect prices to remain around this range in the short-term, although there may be upside risks if US-Iran tensions further deteriorate," OCBC Bank analysts said in a note Monday.

"That said, the price increase was restrained by the dampened Fed rate cut expectations and weak European economic data," analysts from UOB Bank said in a note Monday.

"Asia markets are expected to find a soft start to the week after seeing Wall Street pullback on Friday from lowered expectations of a Fed cut. It will be a week watching the balance between economic data and central bank perceptions for markets," IG's market strategist Pan Jingyi said.

The US Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet July 30-31 to decide on a cut in interest rates.

As of 0305 GMT, the US Dollar Index was down 0.01% at 96.835.