Oil rebounds above $77, China PMI data supports

                                
 * Oil rebounds above $77, eyes econ indicators
                                
 * Dollar advances as risk taking cools
                                
 * HSBC's Oct China PMI hits 18-month high of 55.4
                                
 By Fayen Wong
                                
 PERTH, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $77 a barrel on
Monday, retracing some of the previous session's 3.6 percent
drop, as bullish manufacturing data from China helped to allay
fears about the pace of the rebound in global energy demand.
                                
 However, analysts said nagging concerns about the economic
outlook would limit oil's gains.
                                
 U.S. crude for December delivery <CLc1> rose 28 cents to
$77.28 a barrel by 0258 GMT, after settling down $2.87 at $77 a
barrel on Friday.
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 40 cents to $75.60.
                                
 HSBC's China Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose for the
seventh straight month in October, to an 18-month high of 55.4,
pointing to sustained strength in the country's vast
manufacturing sector. [ID:nSEO80466]
                                
 "Bullish China manufacturing data has increased the risk
appetite for commodities," said Michelle Kwek, an analyst at
Informa Global Markets in Singapore.
                                
 "But there's still a lot of nervousness in the market
because of expectations that there will probably be little or
no growth in the U.S. in the fourth quarter as the government
winds down stimulus measures," Kwek said.
                                
 While China has consistently been a bright spark in the
global economic picture, analysts said manufacturing data from
countries including Britain, Germany, France and the United
States on Monday would likely reinforce the fact that the
fledging economic recovery was still fragile.
                                
 Oil's slump on Friday was pressured by data that showed
weaker U.S. consumer sentiment in October and consumer spending
cuts in September, which dashed hopes of a quick rebound in
energy demand.
                                
 While the U.S. economy has been kick-started into growth,
stock investors still face an uncertain outlook as Wall Street
gears up for comments from the Federal Reserve and a key report
on employment this week. [ID:nN01409884]
                                
 Analysts have flagged the stubbornly rising jobless rate in
the U.S., which has soared to a 26-year high of 9.8 percent, as
the weakest link in the global rebound.
                                
 This week's October U.S. employment report is likely to
show that the economy shed jobs for a 22nd consecutive month,
according to a poll of analysts.
                                
 Thanks to a series of stellar earnings results in the U.S.
and some positive economic data, oil prices broke out of the
$65-$75 range traded over August to September, and reached a
one-year high of $82 in late October.
                                
 But renewed concerns about the pace of the economic
recovery prompted oil prices to snap four straight weeks of
gains and fall 4.3 percent last week.
                                
 The yen rose to two-week highs while the U.S. dollar clung
to gains on Monday as jittery investors cut back long positions
in growth-linked currencies. [USD/]
                                
 Separately, global oil products stored at sea rose by
nearly 15 million barrels to 76 million by the end of October
from levels last month, according to ICAP Shipping.
[ID:nLT402738]
                                
 Money managers hiked net long crude oil positions on the
New York Mercantile Exchange in the week to Oct. 27, the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a report on
Friday. [ID:nN30433247]
 (Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Michael Urquhart