Oil prices decline after Syria agreement

Oil prices fell to a two-week low Monday as the agreement between the US and Russia eliminated the possibility of a military strike on Syria in the near term.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov reached an agreement Saturday on a framework to secure and destroy Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014 after three days of intense negotiations.

Former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers on Sunday announced to pull out of the race to replace Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman. Summers' withdrawal could leave his main competitor Janet Yellen, currently the Fed's vice chairwoman, as the front runner for the top job.

Market also kept close watch on the monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve this week. Most economists expected the US central bank to announce the first taper of its monetary stimulus at the meeting, with the amount expected to be between 10 billion to 15 billion US dollars.

On the economic front, the manufacturing activity in the New York region improved modestly for the fourth straight month in September, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Monday in a report. The general business conditions index for September edged down to 6.3 from 8.2 in August, but remained in positive territory, the report said.

US industrial production advanced 0.4 percent in August after having been unchanged in July, the Fed reported Monday.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery moved down 1.62 dollars to settle at 106.59 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for October delivery fell 2.71 dollars to close at 110.07 dollars a barrel.