STOCK TRADING IS EXPECTED to remain lethargic this week as investors continue to track oil prices.

AB Capital Securities head of research Jose Vistan wrote in a weekly research report that the trend in oil prices was now in the hands of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) when the oil cartel meets on Sept. 9 in Vienna.

“Some of the members of Opec are pushing for an output cut while others want to put a minimum price of $100 a barrel for oil,” Vistan said.

Vistan noted that October crude oil futures fell to a low of $107.32 a barrel last week. Oil prices have dropped by as much as 27 percent from its peak of $147 last July. He said prices fell after Hurricane Gustav’s impact on the Gulf Coast and its energy facilities turned out to be minimal. There is also the factor of demand destruction coming to play in the global commodities market. Crude oil has dropped partly because global demand growth was waning.

Such weakness was reflected in the latest US jobs data, which was released last week, showing that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment jumped unexpectedly to 444,000 from a revised 429,000 the previous week.

He said the market might retreat this week with the lingering uncertainties in global markets.