BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Oil prices rebounded slightly Wednesday in Asia after tumbling more than $5 in the previous session as traders worried about the health of the global economy cashed in gains from the recent rally.
Tuesday's drop hurled crude back to levels not seen since June 26. The market's bearish turn this week erases, at least for the time being, the effect of a run-up that pushed prices past U145 a barrel in a string of record-setting sessions before the Fourth of July holiday.
Analysts attributed much of the recent sell-off to profit-taking, saying traders were cashing in on the previous week's gains. A stronger dollar also helped keep prices lower by discouraging investors from pumping more money into commodities.
Midday in Singapore, light, sweet crude for August delivery was up 43 cents at $136.47 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In the floor session Tuesday, the contract fell $5.33 to settle at $136.04 a barrel.
Concerns about global oil supply disruptions that helped to push prices higher last week have subsided and fears that the economic slowdown is spreading moved to the forefront.
"Sagging global equities, which are tipping a lack of confidence in economic growth in both developed and emerging economies, helped trigger the retreat in the energy markets," Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy, said in a research note.
Still, analysts warned the pullback could be fleeting.
"For the time being it's what we call corrective. ... It's a profit-taking pullback that could still be followed by fresh highs down the road," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates.
Ritterbusch said Tuesday's decline may have gained added momentum when computer models used by large investment funds automatically sold oil contracts once prices fell to a pre-set threshold.
"A lot of these funds don't watch supply and demand fundamentals," he said.
Oil hit a trading record of $145.85 last Thursday before settling at a record close of $145.29 a barrel. It has since lost about $9.
Concern over the unruly oil market was a top priority Tuesday at a summit of industrialized powers in Rusutsu, Japan, with leaders calling on petroleum suppliers to boost production and refining and to increase investment in oil exploration and output over the medium term.
The G-8 - which groups the U.S., Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Russia and Italy - also called for diversifying sources of energy and further efforts to improve energy efficiency.
"We remain positive about the long-term resilience of our economies and future global growth," the communique said, noting that growth in emerging economies remained strong. "However, the world economy is now facing uncertainty and downside risks persist."
In Asia currency trade, the dollar has held steady against the euro and yen after making gains Tuesday in New York. A falling dollar can boost oil prices because investors often buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback weakens. The process can reverse with a stronger dollar.
Fears that fresh conflict in the Middle East could cut oil supplies eased over the weekend after Iran gave an undisclosed response to an international offer of incentives if it suspends a central part of its nuclear program.
In other Nymex trade, heating oil futures rose 0.23 cent to $3.8225 a gallon while gasoline prices added 0.69 cent to $3.37 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 10.1 cents to $12.267 per 1,000 cubic feet.
August Brent crude rose 52 cents to $136.95 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
AP Business Writers Adam Schreck in New York and Malcolm Foster in Rusutsu, Japan, and Associated Press Writer George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, contributed to this report.