Oil prices turned lower in Asian trade Tuesday, with demand uncertainties and economic woes in the eurozone weighing on investors.

New York's benchmark futures contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, reversed earlier gains to trade seven cents lower at 78.63 dollars a barrel in the afternoon.

It had hit an intra-day high of 80.62 dollars on Monday, the highest level since midJanuary.

London's Brent North Sea crude for April was down 16 cents to 76.73 dollars.

"The market is looking for some guidance on fundamentals and we should be getting some data towards the end of the week, both in terms of economic growth and inventories," said Jason Feer, analyst with energy consultancy Argus Media.

The US Department of Energy will release its weekly inventories report Wednesday and will be closely-watched for clues on demand in the world' s largest energy consumer.

Feer added that prices were also being capped by concerns over sovereign debt woes in Europe.

"There's a fair amount of uncertainty about directions of various currencies so I think how that will impact on commodity prices is something that the market is looking at"

Concerns that debt problems in Greece will spread to the rest of the eurozone have been weighing on the single currency.

In addition, official data released Monday showed that unemployment in the 16-nation eurozone remained at 9.9 percent in January, providing more evidence that Europe's recovery from the worst recession in decades is a largely jobless one.