SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : World oil prices advanced above $70 a barrel in Asian trade Monday but remained highly volatile, analysts said.

Light sweet crude for July delivery was seen trading at $70.35 a barrel at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude eased to $71.21 a barrel at the same time in London.

Analysts said sentiment remain fragile and prices could be again be hit by macroeconomic pessimism.

Although oil prices will no doubt remain at the mercy of broader macroeconomic pessimism, recovering demand in the U.S. and other non-industrialized economies, such as China, the Middle East and India, would lift prices, they added.

Since striking a 2010 high just above $87 a barrel on May 4, crude prices have fallen in eleven of the last fifteen trading days and touched a low of $64.24 on Thursday last week, its weakest since September last year.

Futures slumped as low as $64.24 on May 20, the lowest intraday price for the near-month contract since July 2009. Prices are down 20 percent from a 19-month high of $87.15 reached on May 3.

Dollar index rose 0.42 percent against a basket of currencies on Monday, while Asian stocks remained on the backfoot on weak demand for risky assets and currencies.

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