* U.S. crude inventories fell 2 mln barrels last week -poll
* Coming Up: IEA monthly oil market report; 0800 GMT
* For a technical view, click: []
(Recasts with falling equities, updates prices)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, July 13 (Reuters) - Oil retreated on Tuesday to
stay below $75, tracking Asian equities lower and on forecasts
for a seventh straight weekly gain in distillate fuel
inventories at top consumer the United States.
Chinese stocks fell 2 percent on reports that Beijing will
not relax tougher property measures any time soon, curbing
early gains in other Asian equity markets and tempering strong
U.S. corporate earnings and forecasts for a fourth consecutive
weekly fall in the nation's crude stockpiles.
U.S. crude prices <CLc1> fell 19 cents to $74.76 a barrel
by 0449 GMT after rising by as much as 43 cents to $75.38 a
barrel earlier. ICE Brent <LCOc1> declined 26 cents to $74.11.
"Market participants watch stock markets and euro events
more than fundamentals," said Keichi Sano, general manager of
research at SCM Securities in Tokyo.
"We shall expect more hurricanes this season, so at this
point we should pay more attention to the level of stockpiles."
U.S. crude stockpiles probably fell by 2 million barrels in
the week to July 9, a Reuters survey showed, after tumbling 5
million barrels a week earlier because of shutdowns and
shipping disruptions related to Hurricane Alex. []
U.S. distillate inventories probably rose by 700,000
barrels, the survey showed, while gasoline probably added
300,000 barrels.
The industry group American Petroleum Institute will
release its weekly inventory report on Tuesday at 2030 GMT,
followed by government statistics from the Energy Information
Administration on Wednesday at 1430 GMT.
Crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) touched
$76.48 on Friday, the highest price this month, but still more
than $10 below an early-May peak above $87.
EARNINGS OPTIMISM
Japan's Nikkei average earlier on Tuesday edged up 0.5
percent as investors took heart from Alcoa's <AA.N>
stronger-than-expected quarterly profit reported after the
close of U.S. trade, but later slid 0.4 percent.
[]
Many investors were anticipating earnings forecasts to be
revised downward, given expectations for slowing economic
activity in the United States and China.
The U.S. results season officially started on Monday, with
the focus now on quarterly reports from JPMorgan <JPM.N> on
Thursday and General Electric <GE.N> on Friday.
BP said it had installed a cap meant to halt the flow of
oil from its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well on Monday and the
Obama administration issued a new moratorium on deepwater oil
drilling. []
"BP's oil leakage trouble does not necessarily give a
bullish impact to the back of the (forward price) curve," Sano
said. "If deepwater developments are prohibited, then other
forms of non-conventional gas and crude oil production can
compensate."
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For graphics on the U.S. deepwater drilling moratorium:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/US_DRL0610.gif
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/US_OFSHRD0610.gif
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(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
