March 26, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

LONDON, March 25: Oil edged down on Tuesday for the fourth straight day as fresh concerns about weaker demand in top oil consumer the United States tempted some players to cash in.

US crude was down 22 cents to $100.64 a barrel by 1718 GMT, off the day’s high of $101.60, and sharply down from a record high of $111.80 touched on March 17.

London Brent crude fell 2 cents to $99.84 a barrel.

“Sentiment is likely to turn sour again and the latest US consumer confidence data is not encouraging news,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, analyst at BNP Paribas.

Data out of the United States showed consumer confidence sinking to a five-year low in March, rekindling uncertainty about the health of the US economy and hitting the dollar and Wall Street.

Other commodities held up. Gold rebounded after the dollar resumed its downward trend.

A recovery in the dollar from recent lows against the euro ahead of the Easter break had helped push oil prices down late last week and on Monday, as it pressured its nominal price.

“The question is how bad the US economy is going to be.

So the tendency for the time being is to back off after people took profit from last week’s highs,” Tony Nunan, risk management executive at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi, said.

Oil has dropped more than $10 from last week’s record as investors have fled commodities on a view gains have been overdone.—Reuters