* Oil up, eases from earlier 6 pct rise on stock mkts rally
* Eyes interest rates cuts in Japan, U.S. to revive
economies
* Weekly U.S. crude, products stocks expected to rise
again
(Updates prices, recasts headline, lead)
By Maryelle Demongeot
SINGAPORE, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $64 a barrel
on Wednesday, ending a three-day losing streak, after stock
markets rallied on bargain hunting and hopes that Japan and the
U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to spur growth.
Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose by more than 2
percent, while Japan's Nikkei <> was up by more than 3
percent on signals that the Bank of Japan might cut interest
rates at a policy-setting meeting later this week, after a
likely Federal Reserve cut later on Wednesday. []
U.S. light crude for December delivery <CLc1> was up $1.67
at $64.40 a barrel by 0447 GMT, after an earlier session high
of $66.71. Prices had slumped by $5 over the past three
sessions, settling on Tuesday at their lowest in 17 months.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose $1.58 a barrel to $61.87.
"This gain is all equities related. The crude market was
playing catch up," said U.S.-based analyst Jim Ritterbusch of
Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois.
"Crude was able to shrug off a 200- to 300-point gain in
the Dow but when it shot up 900-points-plus, it was just too
hard to ignore," he said.
In a late-session rally after the normal session for U.S.
oil markets had shut, the Dow Jones industrial average <>
and the S&P 500 <.SPX> both ended nearly 11 percent higher,
their second-biggest point gain ever, helped by a late drop in
the yen on hopes of a Japanese rate cut. []
Oil and other commodities have tracked stock markets
closely in recent months as investors divide the financial
world into risky assets and safe havens, switching from one to
the other amid volatile swings brought on by the worst
financial crisis in 80 years.
"I don't think we've seen the end of fund liquidation.
Also, there are a lot of bad economic indicators we are just
starting to see. Unemployment (in the U.S.) is going to go up.
There are all kinds of pressure points and various economic
signals on the horizon," Antoine Halff, an analyst at Newedge
Group, said.
Even an emergency OPEC production cut -- and recent
comments suggesting another one could be made before the
group's December meeting -- has failed to revive oil prices,
which have fallen by about 55 percent since their early July
record high of above $147 a barrel.
Instead, oil traders have focused on the rapid
deterioration in consumer demand across the world, particularly
in top consumer the United States, where gasoline demand fell
by 6.4 percent last week versus year-ago levels, data from
MasterCard Advisors released on Tuesday showed. []
Potentially adding further pressure, U.S. government data
due at 1435 GMT is expected to show a rise of 1.3 million
barrels in crude stocks last week, a Reuters poll showed.
[]
Distillate stocks are seen up 900,000 barrels, while
analysts forecast a rise of 1.2 million barrels in gasoline
stocks.
OPEC ministers will take further steps to prop up the oil
market and could call another meeting before the group's next
scheduled talks in December, officials said on Tuesday, after
the group's decision last week to cut output by 1.5 million
barrels per day failed to lift prices. []
(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Michael
Urquhart)
