NYMEX-U.S. crude steady after longest winning streak since 2004
SINGAPORE, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures steadied above $97 per barrel in early Asian trade on Monday after data from China and the United States last week reinforced expectations that economic growth in the world's two biggest energy consumers may be better this year than last.
FUNDAMENTALS
* U.S. crude futures had fallen 26 cents to $97.51 per barrel at 0038 GMT, after rising for eight straight weeks, its longest such streak since mid-2004.
* Brent futures slipped 33 cents to $116.38 per barrel. Brent had touched a four-month peak on Friday.
* Growth in China's increasingly important services sector rose for the fourth straight month in January, though the slim increase added to evidence that the recovery in the world's second-largest economy remains a modest one.
* U.S. employment grew modestly in January and job gains in the previous two months were larger than first reported, a counterpunch to recent data that suggested a tepid economic recovery had stalled at the end of last year.
* At least 33 people were killed in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sunday when a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives outside a police headquarters and gunmen disguised as officers tried to storm the compound.
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares edged higher on Monday, buoyed by the U.S. data, which maintained expectations for a mild recovery and continued loose U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy to support it.
* The yen started the week as the currency of choice to sell with the Bank of Japan seen under the most pressure among major central banks to ease policy aggressively.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0930 Euro zone Sentix index
1000 Euro zone Producer prices
1445 U.S. ISM-New York index
1500 U.S. Durable goods
1500 U.S. Factory orders
1500 U.S. Employment trends
(Reporting by Ramya Venugopal; Editing by Joseph Radford)