* Dollar under pressure as Obama tours China
* OPEC president says too early to talk about output changes
* Swelling U.S. oil stocks highlight demand weakness
(Repeats to fix transmission fault)
(Updates prices, adds comment, previous PERTH)
By Chris Baldwin
LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose a dollar to above
$77 a barrel on Monday, regaining most of last week's 1.4
percent losses as the dollar drifted lower
U.S crude futures for December delivery <CLc1> rose $1.18 to
$77.53 a barrel by 0909 GMT. London Brent crude <LCOc1> gained
$1.09 to $77.40.
The U.S. dollar fell slightly by 0.45 percent on Monday
against a basket of currencies <.DXY>, as it heads into a week
likely to see increased debate over currencies during U.S.
President Barack Obama's visit to China. []
"As a result, we do not see traders taking aggressive
positions in either direction on the dollar this week, possibly
waiting to see what happens at the culmination of the
president's visit," MF Global commodity analyst Edward Meir
said.
A weaker dollar typically supports commodities because the
dollar-priced contracts become cheaper for buyers using other
currencies.
Underlining views that global economic imbalances are
reflected by the weakening dollar, the head of the International
Monetary Fund said a stronger Chinese yuan was part of the
reforms Beijing needed to implement to increase domestic
consumption. []
The weaker dollar helped push gold prices to a fresh record
high on Monday, while U.S. wheat, corn and soybean futures also
advanced more than 1 percent.
MARKET OVERSUPPLIED
There was little impact from comments by OPEC's president,
Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, who said the market was still
oversupplied, adding that he was satisfied with current oil
prices and compliance, which he put at about 65 percent.
[]
Hopes of a revival in energy demand from Japan supported
prices.
Japan's economy grew at the fastest pace in more than two
years in the third quarter, as stimulus measures lifted consumer
spending and capital spending bottomed out. []
But with growth in the world's No. 2 economy largely fuelled
by the continued effects of stimulus spending by governments
around the world, some analysts warned the recovery may lose
momentum in coming quarters due to weak domestic demand.
With most corporate results already reported, market
watchers will seek the next catalyst to set direction for the
dollar, stocks and commodities.
That puts this week's round of economic data in the
spotlight, including U.S. retail sales, inflation and housing
starts data.
Analysts said upside gains to oil prices could be limited,
however, with U.S. data pointing to a choppy recovery, while
bulging fuel inventories also reflected sluggish energy demand.
[]
(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Perth, editing by Keiron
Henderson)
