Oil prices hovered near $77 a barrel Monday in Asia. Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 11 cents to $76.89 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.87 to settle at $77.00 on Friday as the dollar gained and stock markets dropped on news U.S. consumer spending and confidence had fallen in September, according to a report of the Associated Press. In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 1.08 cents to $2.02 a gallon. Gasoline for December delivery gained 0.45 cent to $1.96 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery jumped 4.3 cents to $5.05 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude for December delivery was flat at $75.20 on the ICE Futures exchange.