SINGAPORE- OIL prices fell below $50 a barrel on Monday in Asia as investors braced for a slew of U.S. corporate earnings reports this week that could temper optimism about global economic recovery.

Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 91 cents to $49.42 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract Friday rose 35 cents to settle at $50.33.

Oil prices have played peek-a-boo with $50 a barrel this month after dropping below $35 in February as investors struggle to decipher how the economy will perform in the second half.

Stock markets have jumped more than 20 per cent in the last six weeks on expectations that massive global stimulus packages will spark a recovery by the end of the year.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which next meets on May 28, has announced output quota reductions of 4.2 million barrels a day since September.

'A key support is coming from expectations that OPEC is going to try to match the slowdown in crude demand by cutting supply,' said Mr Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist with ANZ Bank in Melbourne. 'OPEC doesn't want to cut production, so they may just talk up tightening compliance at the next meeting.'

Mr Pervan expects oil prices to dip to between $40 and $45 a barrel in September before rising to near $55 by the end of the year.

'People are going to be disillusioned in the near term,' Mr Pervan said. 'We see the global economy not looking at all pretty until the second half of next year.'

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for May delivery fell 2.51 cents to $1.47 a gallon and heating oil fell 1.06 cents to $1.41 a gallon.

Natural gas for May delivery slid 3.9 cents to $3.69 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices fell 78 cents to $52.57 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. -- AP