* U.S. crude stockpiles jump most since October 2008
* Coming Up: U.S. weekly jobless claims; 1230 GMT
* For a technical view, click: []
(Updates prices)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, July 29 (Reuters) - Oil was steady around $77 on
Thursday after falling in the past two sessions on weak durable
good data and the biggest weekly increase in crude inventories
for nearly two years in the United States.
U.S. crude stocks surged 7.31 million barrels last week as
imports jumped, government statistics showed on Wednesday,
while the nation's gasoline and distillate stocks including
diesel gained for the fifth and ninth consecutive weeks
respectively.
Wall Street slipped on Wednesday and Asian shares slid on
Thursday after new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods
posted their largest decline since August, a fresh sign the
U.S. economy slowed in the second quarter.
"The crude market has shown the economy is not absorbing
the supply, nor is the motivation there for refiners to process
those supplies," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at
Commodity Broking Services in Sydney. "The numbers in America
are not that good."
U.S. crude for September <CLc1> advanced 13 cents to $77.12
a barrel at 0457 GMT, after dropping close to 0.7 percent on
Wednesday, having touched $79.69 a day earlier, the highest
price in almost 12 weeks. ICE Brent <LCOc1> gained 5 cents to
$76.11.
"We have tested $80 twice and failed. Now we are going to
test lower into the range again," Barratt said, referring to
the $70-$80 range within which oil has traded for nearly two
months.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) has for the past year and a half expressed a preference
for oil to remain stable around $75 a barrel, saying that price
encourages investment to sustain and increase production
capacity and does not threaten the economic recovery.
"In a crisis situation you need stability," Barratt said.
"Crude is very stable. This suggests to me that the forces of
supply and demand are at ease with each other."
Oil analysts including Michael Wittner from Societe
Generale pointed out that total U.S. product demand growth was
robust at 3.4 percent over the past four weeks from a year
earlier, according to EIA figures.
But supply accumulation is outpacing consumption at a time
when the U.S. economy is recovering from the most severe
recession of the post-war era.
The U.S. economy kept growing overall in recent weeks, but
unevenly and it actually slowed in a few regions as housing
markets softened after the end of a popular tax break, the
Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. []
Last week's gain in U.S. crude stockpiles was the biggest
since October 2008, according to statistics from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration, which published Wednesday's
inventory report. U.S. weekly crude imports reached 11.12
million barrels last week, the highest level since August 2006.
Many analysts had expected total crude stocks to be lower
on disruptions from Tropical Storm Bonnie as it approached the
Gulf of Mexico last week. But Bonnie dissipated at the weekend,
without damaging regional energy infrastructure, although some
oil production was interrupted late in the week.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
