London (Platts)--26Apr2010/558 am EDT/958 GMT

Crude oil futures lacked direction during European morning trading Monday with both the ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI contracts trading at similar levels to Friday's settles.

At 09:13 GMT, the front-month ICE Brent contract traded at $87.24/barrel, a 1 cent fall from Friday's close. Earlier in the session, the ICE Brent contract traded at $87.75/b, the highest level since October 2008. The NYMEX WTI contract at time of writing also traded lower at $85.01/b, an 11 cent fall. In the currency markets, the ICE Dollar index traded lower at 81.599 index points, a 0.247 rise from the Friday close.

According to energy analyst Edward Meir, the currency markets could provide the immediate direction in global markets due to the ongoing Greek financial crisis.

"In the case of the Greek situation, which in our view is the most dominant short-term variable influencing most markets, the government there was finally forced on Friday to officially ask the IMF and the EU for permission to draw against a $60 billion facility."

"We think all this has yet to be fully discounted by the currency markets, where the euro is still stubbornly defending the low $1.30 mark against the dollar, and in effect, allowing commodities like crude some breathing room to push higher," Meir added.

--George Johnson, george_johnson@platts.com