SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices hovered below $70 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after dropping the last nine days on investor doubts about a recovery in U.S. crude demand and amid a strengthening dollar.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 5 cents to $69.56 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, the contract fell 36 cents to settle at $69.51.
Crude is down about 13 percent since reaching its 2009 high of $82 a barrel in October amid signs that demand for oil and its products remains weak.
"A further slide to the $65 to $66 area is looking increasingly likely," Galena Illinois-based Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report.
Investors are also watching closely the U.S. dollar, which has reversed a year-long slide this month. Traders had been buying crude and other commodities as a hedge against inflation and a weaker currency.
The euro fell to $1.4545 on Tuesday from $1.4656 on Monday while the dollar rose to 89.22 yen from 88.55.
In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil held at $1.91 while gasoline was steady at $1.83. Natural gas rose 6.1 cents to $5.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for January delivery rose 2 cents to $71.91 on the ICE Futures exchange.
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