* Dollar index up as euro slides, pressures oil
* China factory expansion pace slows, weighs on oil prices
* Coming up: API oil inventory data released on TuesdayU.S.
crude futures prices fell 3 percent on Monday, retreating under $100 a barrel as
euro-zone debt concerns continued to push the euro lower and strengthen the dollar, and after data showed China's factory expansion slowing in April.
The euro fell to a two-month low versus the dollar and a record trough against the Swiss franc, as investors unwound bullish bets on mounting worries about the region's debt with many expecting more losses. The dollar index .DXY rose to a seven-week high of 76.366 versus a currency basket. [USD/]
FUNDAMENTALS
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the July crude contract CLN1 fell $3.03, or 3.0 percent to $97.07 a barrel by 8:48 a.m. EDT (1248 GMT), trading from $96.70 to $100.04.
* China's factories expanded at their slowest pace in 10 months with its flash PMI easing to 51.1 from 51.8 in April.
* The euro zone's composite flash PMI fell to 55.4 from 57.8, below forecasts for 57.4.
* President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains Iran's caretaker oil minister, despite a ruling by the constitutional watchdog that he had no legal right to the post, ISNA news wire reported a vice-president saying.
* An eruption by Iceland's most active volcano put Europe on high alert as an ash cloud drifted towards Scotland and threatened to shut down airports across the northern edge of the continent.
* A strong economy and healthy refining margins lifted oil imports by South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, by more than 8 percent in April from a year ago, state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) [KOILC.UL] said.
* Iraq expects output from its southern oilfields to hit up to 2.5 million barrels per day at the end of this year despite crumbling infrastructure, the head of South Oil Co. (SOC) told Reuters.
* NATO plans to use attack helicopters in Libya to help break a military stalemate with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, a French diplomatic source said.
* Troops recaptured Pakistan's naval air force headquarters after a 16-hour battle with Taliban gunmen who had stormed the facility in the most brazen attack since the killing of Osama bin Laden.
MARKETS NEWS MAY 23 2011
* Doubts about Europe's ability to manage its debt knocked the single currency, drove up bond yields and dragged down equities in Europe and elsewhere.
* U.S. stock index futures fell on worries about the euro-zone debt crisis after Standard & Poor's cut Italy's rating outlook and Spain's ruling Socialists suffered a setback in elections. [USD/]
* Gold rallied to its highest price in nearly two weeks as investors bought the safe-haven precious metal after Friday and Saturday's bad ratings news on Greece and Italy. [GOL/] ( Source Router ) For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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