Oil near $97 amid signs US economy improving

SINGAPORE - Oil prices fell slightly to near $97 a barrel Monday in Asia despite sign U.S. economic growth is improving.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 39 cents at $97.45 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.48 to settle at $97.84 on Friday.

Brent crude was down 10 cents at $114.51 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

Investors were cheered by evidence that the U.S. economy may grow more than previously expected this year. The Labor Department said Friday that companies hired 243,000 employees in January, the strongest job growth in nine months. The increase in hiring pushed the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.2 percent Friday and Asian stock markets gained Monday.

Analysts remain concerned that demand in developed countries, particularly those in Europe, will be weak this year.

"Demand continues to be concentrated in the emerging markets," J.P. Morgan said in a report. "In the United States, we see structural demand contractions in gasoline as fuel efficiency measures continue to offset gains in population growth and personal income."

Investors will be closely watching a slew of corporate earnings reports this week for clues about the strength of the U.S. and global economies. Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, and Cisco Systems are scheduled to announce profits this week.

In other energy trading, heating oil was steady at $3.12 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 0.4 cent to $2.91 per gallon. Natural gas slid 3.1 cents to $2.47 per 1,000 cubic feet.