Oil prices continued to fall as the US market opened on Monday, due to fears over the European demand recovery lingered, after some major European countries announced new lockdown restrictions.

US crude fell 1.7% to $60.38, after opening at $61.42, and hit a day high at $61.65, and Brent crude fell 1.6% to $63.46, after opening at $64.50, and hit a day high at $64.76.

US crude gained 3.25% on Friday, and Brent crude futures rose 2.6%, in their first daily gain in 5 days.

Oil prices lost around 6.5% last week, posting the second straight weekly loss, due to the latest developments regarding the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

Several European countries re-imposed lockdown restrictions after a surge in Covid-19 cases and the spread of the third wave of infections.

The new restrictions may lead to further slowdown the fuel demand levels in one of the hardest hit regions by the pandemic.

The German government plans to extend the lockdown for the fifth straight month to contain the outbreak, after new cases exceeded the numbers that authorities say will lead to pressure on hospitals.

Baker Hughes revealed on Friday that the US drilling and exploration rigs rose 9 rigs last week, to a total of 318, the highest level since the week ending May 1, 2020.

The increase in the US drilling activity boosted the US production by more than 47% since mid-2016 to a total of 13.1 million barrels per day in March 2020, and held recently around 10.9 million bpd due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the US is still the world's largest oil producer.

Oil prices fell on Monday, as fears over the European demand recovery lingered, after some major European countries announced new lockdown restrictions.

US crude fell 1.7% to $60.38, after opening at $61.42, and hit a day high at $61.65, and Brent crude fell 1.6% to $63.46, after opening at $64.50, and hit a day high at $64.76.

US crude gained 3.25% on Friday, and Brent crude futures rose 2.6%, in their first daily gain in 5 days.

Oil prices lost around 6.5% last week, posting the second straight weekly loss, due to the latest developments regarding the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

Several European countries re-imposed lockdown restrictions after a surge in Covid-19 cases and the spread of the third wave of infections.

The new restrictions may lead to further slowdown the fuel demand levels in one of the hardest hit regions by the pandemic.

The German government plans to extend the lockdown for the fifth straight month to contain the outbreak, after new cases exceeded the numbers that authorities say will lead to pressure on hospitals.

Baker Hughes revealed on Friday that the US drilling and exploration rigs rose 9 rigs last week, to a total of 318, the highest level since the week ending May 1, 2020.

The increase in the US drilling activity boosted the US production by more than 47% since mid-2016 to a total of 13.1 million barrels per day in March 2020, and held recently around 10.9 million bpd due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the US is still the world's largest oil producer.

The US dollar turned lower against its rivals on Monday, after rising earlier, to head for the first daily loss in 3 days, following a drop in the US Treasury bond yields, ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements.

The dollar index fell 0.2% to 91.75 points, after closing on Friday at 91.92 points, and hit a high of 92.15 points.

The US dollar gained 0.1% on Friday, in the second straight daily gain, due to investors' risk aversion.

The greenback gained 0.25% last week, and posted the third weekly gain in a month, as the US Treasury bond yields surged.

The US currency opened this week higher, on strong safe haven demand, due to concerns that the financial tensions in Turkey will spread to other markets.

The 10-year US Treasury bond yields fell 3.5% to 1.663% today, and pulled back from the 14-month high of 1.754% of last week, due to a rebound in most global stocks and improved risk appetite.

At 13:00 GMT, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to participate in a virtual panel discussion about central bank innovation at an online event hosted by the Bank for International Settlements.

Jerome Powell told the Wall Street Journal that the US will will emerge from this crisis stronger and better, as we have done so before.

European stocks rose in early trading on Monday, and resumed gains within recovery attempts from 2-week low, after the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's sudden decision to fire the central bank governor.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1% as of 11:28 GMT, after closing lower by 0.45% on Friday and hit the lowest level since March at 420.7 points.

The pan European index gained 0.1% last week, posting its third straight weekly gain.

The automotive sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, with a jump of more than 1.5%, as most of the major European companies' stocks rebounded.

Volkswagen's stocks rose 5.2% after a report that it's weighing a stock listing for Porsche.

Investors are focused on the Turkish lira and bonds, following the Turkish President's decision, as the lira fell more than 8% against the US dollar to $8.1745, compared to below the $7.5 barrier of last week.

These fluctuations in the Turkish currency and bonds came after the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly fired the central bank governor Anji Agdal, and replaced him by a former deputy of the ruling party Kavcıolu.

S&P 500 futures rose more than 0.3%, ahead of Wall Street opening after the index closed lower by 0.1% on Friday, on profit-tasking from its record high of 3,983.87 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.1%, while France's CAC 40 fell 0.2%, and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, while Germany's DAX index rose 0.3%.