* Equities rally to boost commodities risk appetite
* IEA's Tanaka says high prices are dampening demand
* Technicals show Brent crude to rise to $124
* Coming Up: U.S. March existing home sales 1400 GMT
EIA oil data; 1430 GMT
(Adds quote, updates prices)
By Zaida Espana
LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose above $122 a
barrel on Wednesday, helped by a rebound in equities and a
weaker dollar.
ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> gained $1.50 to $122.83 a barrel by
1032 GMT. U.S. crude <CLc1> was up $1.23 at $109.51 a barrel.
"There are external factors -- the strong equities and
weaker dollar -- which are not oil-related but answer for
today's gains," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.
A rally in European shares [] on upbeat earnings from
companies including Intel <INTC.O>, together with well covered
euro bond auctions from Portugal, Spain and Germany boosted risk
appetite, lending support to commodities. []
[] []
The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the greenback
against a basket of currencies, was down 0.72 percent. A weaker
dollar can lift oil prices by making dollar-denominated crude
less expensive for other currency holders.
Spot gold prices breached $1,500 for the first time ever and
silver <XAG=> hit a 31-year high on Wednesday. []
The International Energy Agency's executive director, Nobuo
Tanaka, issued the latest in a series of warnings on the effect
of strong oil prices on demand in top consumers the United
States and China. []
Producer group OPEC needs to boost output in June or July to
douse further price rises, Tanaka said, adding that if crude
prices stayed at $100 a barrel or more for the rest of 2011, the
market could see demand destruction to that of 2008.
OPEC has to date declined to make a coordinated increase in
supply, despite growing concerns about demand destruction as
world oil prices rocketed up to 2-1/2-year highs of $127 a
barrel earlier this month amid unrest in the Middle East and
North Africa.
"We don't have much fundamental news, but Saudi Arabia
recently cut output in the last few weeks, which was not
expected, and all in all prices could go up a bit," LBBW analyst
Frank Schallenberger said.
Ahead of the Easter holiday, oil prices are likely to remain
in a range in reduced trading, according to Commerzbank's
Fritsch.
"I think prices will remain in a narrow range between
$120-$123 a barrel and no breakout is expected ahead of the
Easter weekend," Fritsch said.
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Technical outlook on Brent http://link.reuters.com/wuz98r
Technical outlook on WTI http://link.reuters.com/vuz98r
More on Middle East unrest: [][]
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U.S. OIL DATA
Data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed
U.S. gasoline stocks fell 1.8 million barrels and distillate
stocks dropped 3.4 million barrels last week in an unexpected
decline, which helped ease fears over eroding demand. []
Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast gasoline stocks would
fall 1.5 million barrels and distillate stocks would be
unchanged.
"The API numbers were rather bullish and set a good platform
for the oil data out of the U.S. tonight to boost prices," said
Lim.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly data is
due on Wednesday at 1430 GMT.
Tension persisted in the Middle East after Yemeni police
opened fire on protesters in Sanaa and Taiz on Tuesday, killing
at least three people, as protesters tried to step up their
campaign to end President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule.
[]
In Syria, forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi renewed the
bombardment of Misrata, causing several casualties, an Amnesty
International researcher in the besieged Libyan city said.
[]
(Additional reporting by Francis Kan in Singapore; editing
by Jane Baird)
