Oil down in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil was down in Asia on Tuesday as traders took profits from recent gains and ahead of the May Day holiday, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June dropped 17 cents to $94.33 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for June delivery shed 13 cents to $103.68.

"Prices are slightly lower but holding steady... We're also seeing some minor profit taking after yesterday's gains," Victor Shum, managing director of IHS Purvin and Gertz in Singapore, told AFP.

Oil prices had finished higher on Monday as market expectations grew for a European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate cut.

Traders took some encouragement from expectations that monetary easing policies of the major central banks would remain in place during meetings this week, and that the ECB could even cut its key rate in hopes of boosting growth in the eurozone. (AFP)