* API crude and product stocks post rise
* Coming up: EIA U.S. inventory report; 1430 GMT
* For a technical view, click: []
(Updates prices, adds graphic, detail)
By Emma Farge
LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell towards $76 a
barrel on Wednesday after a surprise hike in crude inventories
in the world's top energy consumer the United States.
U.S. crude inventories jumped 579,000 barrels in the week to
June 11 and oil product stocks rose across the board, weekly
data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group
said on Tuesday. []
Prices extended losses later after U.S. housing starts fell
more than expected in May to their lowest level in five months,
a government report showed. []
U.S. crude for July <CLc1> fell 85 cents to $76.09 a barrel
at 1237 GMT, reversing an earlier rally above $77 to the highest
level since mid-May. ICE Brent crude oil for delivery in August
<LC0c1> was down 45 cents at $76.65 a barrel by the same time.
"When you look at the last data on the API side, it showed
an increase in crude oil. We are also looking at a big jump in
gasoline stocks and that could be pretty bearish for oil," said
Christopher Barret, an oil analyst at Credit Agricole.
A U.S. government inventory report from the Energy
Information Administration, deemed by many to be more
comprehensive than the API, will be published later on Wednesday
and is set to provide further direction.
The report will give clues on demand at the start of the
summer driving season when gasoline consumption peaks.
A provisional poll of Reuters analysts showed that crude oil
inventories dropped 1.2 million barrels and gasoline inventories
rose 200,000 barrels last week. []
U.S. weekly retail gasoline demand rose 1.4 percent in the
week ended June 11 as prices at the pump continued to dip, but
demand was down 2.2 percent year-on-year, the SpendingPulse
report said on Tuesday. []
RISK APPETITE
While prices were weaker on Wednesday, they were still
nearly 20 percent above the 2010 low of $64.24 a barrel struck
in late May, helped by better buying appetite for commodities
such as oil.
Gains in the last two sessions have mostly been fuelled by
rallying equities, reinforcing the link between the two markets.
World stocks rose to a one-month high the previous day and
helped to tow U.S. crude prices above the key technical 200-day
moving average. <.MIWD00000PUS>
"The S&P500 managed to start a penetration of its 200-day
moving average, therefore West Texas Intermediate did the same,"
said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob, referring to the U.S.
crude benchmark.
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The market on Wednesday was also weighing the potential
implications of a speech from U.S. President Barack Obama in
which he demanded that BP <BP.L> set aside billions of dollars
to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. []
While some expect the disaster to be bullish for oil prices
in the long term as producers shy away from deepwater drilling,
others think the accident could accelerate the shift away from
traditional energy sources such as oil.
"Maybe for the long-term oil price it's bullish, but for the
nearby months I don't see any reason to be bullish or bearish,"
said Keichi Sano, general manager of research at SCM Securities
in Tokyo.
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa; editing by
William Hardy)
