NYMEX-Crude slips towards $95 on falling U.S. consumer sentiment
SINGAPORE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. crude slipped towards $95 per barrel on Monday, on track for its first fall in four sessions, after a surprise drop in U.S. consumer sentiment dented the outlook for demand in the world's biggest oil user.
FUNDAMENTALS
* U.S. crude futures had fallen 36 cents to $95.20 per barrel by 0028 GMT. Brent slipped 22 cents to $111.67 per barrel, also its first decline in four sessions.
* U.S. markets are closed on Monday for a holiday.
* U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated for a second straight month to its lowest in over a year in January, with many consumers citing fallout from the recent fiscal debate in Washington, a survey on Friday showed.
* Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday backed away from the fiscal clash with President Barack Obama that could have risked default and chaos in markets, shifting to a new, less aggressive stance.
* Algerian troops found 25 bodies of hostages at a bomb-littered gas plant deep in the Sahara desert on Sunday, a day after ending a four-day siege, raising the death toll of militants and their captives to at least 80.
* Iran said it had made some progress in resolving its disputes with the U.N. atomic watchdog, state media reported, even though the two sides' latest talks failed to seal a deal on letting inspectors visit a military site.
* World oil markets are tightening as Chinese fuel demand increases and OPEC supplies fall, draining inventories, the West's energy agency said on Friday, in a trend that could put extra upward pressure on prices.
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares edged lower on Monday, taking a breather after hitting multimonth highs, while the yen touched a new low ahead of the outcome of the Bank of Japan policy meeting this week amid expectations for bold monetary easing measures.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 Germany producer prices Dec
1600 Eurogroup meeting in Brussels
(Reporting by Ramya Venugopal; Editing by Joseph Radford)