* Oil falls over $1, hovers below $70 on profit-taking
* Markets await U.S. presidential election result
* Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members seen cutting output
(Updates prices)
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Oil fell more than $1 to hover
below $70 a barrel on Wednesday, as investors took profit after
prices leapt 10 percent in the previous session, but losses
were tempered as traders awaited the results of the U.S.
presidential election before making any major moves.
U.S. oil settled up $6.62, or 10.36 percent, at $70.53 a
barrel on Tuesday -- the largest one-day gain since Sept. 22,
when it soared nearly 16 percent ahead of contract expiry and
weakness in the U.S. dollar.
U.S. light crude for December delivery <CLc1> fell 92 cents
to $69.61 a barrel by 0138 GMT, after falling $1.08 earlier.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> was down 83 cents at $65.61.
"The 10 percent jump last night was fairly extreme and what
we're seeing this morning is nothing more than a partial
correction from some profit taking," said David Moore, a
commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Moore said oil's movement would largely be influenced by
the U.S. dollar and although the result of the U.S. election
was not expected to have a direct impact on crude, prices would
probably be swayed by performance on the equities markets.
On Wednesday, the dollar rose 0.3 percent against a basket
of major currencies <.DXY>. It inched up 0.2 percent against
the euro to $1.2960 <EUR=> on trading platform EBS. The dollar
was steady against the yen at 99.78 yen <JPY=>, after slipping
to 99.45 yen earlier. []
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain began a
nervous wait for results and faced the verdict of U.S. voters
after a long and bitter struggle for the White House, with
Obama holding a decisive edge in national opinion polls.
[]
(To view a factbox on both candidates energy positions,
click [])
Oil's surge on Tuesday came on signs that OPEC kingpin
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members had made cuts in crude
exports.
The rally was also helped by a tumble in the U.S. dollar,
which posted its biggest one-day slide against the euro since
that currency's 1999 launch, as investors bet that global
interest rate cuts and a credit market thaw would alleviate the
global financial crisis. []
Saudi Arabia has reduced exports after the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed last month to lower
output, according to trade sources, with some estimating the
world's top exporter had cut shipments by around 900,000
barrels per day (bpd) from a peak in August. []
In addition to Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members including
Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were also showing
signs of throttling back output in line with an OPEC decision
last month to cut output by 1.5 million bpd.
Crude prices have fallen by about half from a record above
$147 a barrel in July as the global credit crisis hit the wider
economy, damping fuel demand in major consumer nations,
including the United States.
An updated poll of analysts ahead of U.S. weekly government
inventory data forecast U.S. crude oil stocks rose by 1.1
million barrels last week. The analysts predicted a rise of 1.4
million barrels in distillate inventories and a decline of
800,000 barrels in gasoline stocks. []
(Reporting by Fayen Wong)
