SINGAPORE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude slipped on Tuesday to trade near $96 per barrel as traders booked profits on renewed euro zone worries following signs of political uncertainty in the troubled region, while a slightly firmer dollar also hurt prices.

FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. crude CLc1 fell 13 cents to $96.04 per barrel at 0033 GMT, after dropping to $95.91 earlier in the session. It has gained for the last eight consecutive weeks, its longest winning streak since 2004.

* Both U.S. crude and Brent oil futures LCOc1 slipped about 1 percent on profit-booking in the previous session.

* Spain's opposition Socialist Party called for the resignation of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over a corruption scandal on Sunday as a poll showed the lowest support on record for his centre-right People's Party. ID:nL5N0B32YE

* In Italy, chances of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi regaining power raised worries about Rome's ability to fix its fiscal problems. ID:nL5N0B32YG

* Euro zone factory prices fell for the second month in a row in December, mirroring the trend in consumer inflation and leaving room for a possible European Central Bank interest rate cut to revive the weak economy. ID:nL5N0B431X

* A gauge of U.S. business investment plans dropped in December, a possible sign companies were losing confidence in the economy's strength due to fears over tighter fiscal policy.

ID:nL1N0B43H9

* Sudan has sold a cargo of oil of disputed ownership from South Sudan oilfields, a minister and trading sources said, in what is likely to be seen by the south as a provocation after security and oil transport talks between the two countries fell apart. ID:nL5N0B0FKP

* Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Monday he saw U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden's offer this weekend of bilateral dialogue between their two countries as a sign of a change in approach to Tehran by Washington. ID:nL5N0B4609

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian shares eased on Tuesday as investors booked profits from recent strong rallies in the face of weak U.S. data and worries that a potential political shake-up could disrupt the euro zone's efforts to resolve its debt crisis. MKTS/GLOB

* A week-old rally in the euro came to a halt as investors took profits on its stellar gains in the run-up to this week's European Central Bank policy meeting. The euro's decline saw the dollar index rise, rebounding from a 4-1/2 month trough plumbed Friday. FRX/

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0145 China HSBC Services PMI CNPMIS=ECI

0330 Australia RBA cash rate AUCBIR=ECI

0848 France Markit Services PMI FRPMIS=ECI

0853 Germany Markit Services PMI DEPMIS=ECI

0858 Euro zone Markit Services PMI EUPMIS=ECI

1000 Euro zone Retail sales EURSLY=ECI

1245 U.S. ICSC weekly chain store sales USUBSY=ECI

1355 U.S. Redbook weekly retail sales USREDY=ECI

1500 U.S. ISM Non-manufacturing PMI USNPMI=ECI

1500 U.S. IBD economic optimism index USIBDC=ECI

2130 U.S. API weekly crude stocks USOIAC=ECI

(Reporting by Ramya Venugopal; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

((ramya.venugopal@thomsonreuters.com)(+65 6870 3826)(Reuters Messaging:ramya.venugopal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 

 ((CRUDE OIL TRADES      Asia... 
  ACRU/T
        Europe... 
  CRU/T
      Americas... 
  CRU/TU
                                 CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS      Crude oil tenders in Asia........................ 
  CRU/TENDA
        Crude oil supply outages in Asia............ 
  CRU/OUT-ASIA-O
        Refinery outages in Asia.................... 
  REF/OUT-ASIA-O
        Global arbitrage news and flows................. 
  O/CRUDEARB
        W.African crude imports to Asia, monthly........ 
  O/WAFRICA1
                              REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES      Asia... 
  REF/A
       Middle East... 
  REF/ME
     Europe... 
  REF/E
                                 NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA      Japan.............. 
  METI/JP1
     China.............. 
  O/CHINA1
        India.............. 
  O/INDIA2
     S.Korea............ 
  O/KOREA1
        Indonesia....... 
  O/INDO1-CRU
                                    CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA      Japan... 
  O/JAPAN1
       US... 
  EIA/S
       Europe... 
  O/EUROIL1
                              CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS      OPEC output survey... 
  OPEC/O
     New Asian fields... 
  ASIA/NEW
        New Africa fields... 
  AFR/NEW
     New Europe fields.. 
  NSEA/NEW
        New Americas fields.. 
  AM/NEW
     New projects..... 
  ENERGY/NEW
                                 CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS      Middle East........... 
  CRU/M
     Asia-Pacific........ 
  CRU/AP
        West Africa......... 
  CRU/WAF
     North Sea............ 
  CRU/E
        Asia outlook....... 
  ASIA/CRU
     Europe outlook..... 
  EUR/CRU
        Global futures report... 
  O/R
     Technicals report...... 
  O/I
                                      PRICES      For all Official Selling Prices...................... 
  OSP/O
        For a POLL on oil prices............................ 
  O/POLL
        NYMEX and ICE oil futures........................... 
  OILOIL
        TOCOM crude oil futures............................. 
  0#JCO:
        Dubai, Oman swaps and spread............... 
  ASIA/SWAP/CRUDE
        Middle East physical crude diffs............... 
  CRUDE/ASIA2
        Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps.......... 
  CRUDE/ASIA1
        Asia-Pacific physical crude.................... 
  CRUDE/ASIA3
        All Asian crude oil differentials................ 
  0#C-DIF-A
        All Asian crude oil outright prices.................. 
  0#C-A
  ))

Keywords: MARKETS ASIA NYMEX/