By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices dipped on Tuesday as Asia's economies showed more signs of weakness, while U.S. prices edged up on the back of U.S. peak demand summer driving season.
Front-month Brent futures were down 2 cents at $66.25 (42 pounds) a barrel by 0143 GMT (2:43 a.m. BST), following a 64 cents fall in the previous session on the back of near-record Saudi exports.
In Asia, analysts said that low oil prices, which have dropped by around 50 percent since their last peak in June 2014, had failed to spur growth.
"The trouble is there are no signs that growth is benefiting from lower oil prices. By now, demand should have started to strengthen. Instead, the first quarter probably represented a new low in the region's growth since the global financial crisis," HSBC said on Tuesday, adding that "this hints at broader, structural factors weighing on Asia's growth."
In the United States, WTI crude futures rose 16 cents to $59.59 a barrel on the back of the beginning of the peak demand summer season during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
More U.S. drivers will hit the roads this Memorial Day holiday than in the past decade, fuelled by a growing economy and low gasoline prices, the nation's largest motorists' advocacy group said earlier in May.
AAA expected 37.2 million people would journey 50 miles (80 km) or more from home during the May 21-25 period, a 4.7 percent jump from the 35.5 million who travelled for the holiday weekend last year and the most Memorial Day-related traffic since 2005.