US oil prices drifted lower on Friday as a plunge in US home sales added to festering economic worries, erasing much of the day's earlier gains sparked by a weaker dollar.
The weekend petrol price hike and weak global cues saw the Nifty close on Monday a tad below the 5,500 level. CNBC-TV18's managing editor Udayan Mukherjee says, "Don’t expect great cues from the global side as we wade into the second day or what has started off as a tricky session for the stock market."
Gasoline futures tumbled nearly 5% dragging crude down, extending oil's slump this month to more than 15% as concern mounted about energy demand and the economy.
US inflation hit the highest level in 2-1/2 years as food and energy prices moved higher, but there was little sign of a broader pick-up in inflation that would trouble the Federal Reserve.