* Oil rebounds after last week's fall to 4-year low
* Saudi deepens some supply cuts ahead of OPEC meeting
* Equity market bounce aids sentiment across commodities
(Recasts, adds fund manager quote, updates prices)
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $43 a barrel on
Monday, as a rebound in global equity markets and further
evidence of supply cuts by top exporter Saudi Arabia helped the
market break a six-session losing streak.
The market had fallen 25 percent last week, its biggest
weekly fall in nearly 18 years, depressed by the grim outlook
for the world economy.
U.S. crude for January delivery <CLc1> was up $2.77 to
$43.58 a barrel by 1511 GMT. It fell more than 6 percent on
Friday to close at $40.81, its lowest since December 2004.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose $2.95 to $42.69 a barrel.
"Prices are higher on account of a short-covering bounce
from extremely oversold conditions," Edward Meir, of futures
broker MF Global, said.
"OPEC's meeting is nine days away, meaning that we could see
some strengthening leading into the meeting," he said.
Oil has plunged more than $100 a barrel from a record peak
above $147 in July, as the credit crisis has started to hurt the
wider economy and shrink demand for fuel.
But efforts by governments around the world to halt the
slide seemed to reassure investors.
Monday's rally spanned the commodities complex, with gold
and copper rebounding strongly []. European shares were
firmer after strong gains in Asia [] and U.S. shares opened
sharply higher. []
Global markets have taken heart from efforts by Washington
to finalise a rescue for the struggling U.S. auto industry
[], plus more government measures to boost economic
activity.
OPEC CUT
Oil could also find support from predictions of a cold
winter in the United States, with December set to be the coldest
since 2000 on average. []
"Many investors who were underweighted in commodities in
recent months are now asking themselves whether it makes sense
to get back into the game," said fund manager Tiberius in a
research note.
"Intuitively speaking, a crude oil price of below $50 per
barrel seems to be quite cheap."
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries have called for more supply cuts when the producer
group meets on Dec. 17 in Algeria. []
OPEC has already agreed to cut about 2 million barrels per
day (bpd) of production. Top exporter Saudi Arabia has just
provided further evidence of its intent to keep the taps tight.
The kingdom told at least two oil refiners in Asia on Monday
it would deepen oil supply cuts to as much as 10 percent of
normal contracted volumes in January versus a 5 percent cut in
December supplies []. It also reduced January supplies
to some European refiners.
But OPEC may need to make an additional cut of as much as 2
million bpd to bolster prices in a market where demand is
falling.
"The current downturn in prices has already priced in at
least a 1.5 million bpd cut," Tetsu Emori, a commodities fund
manager at Japan's Astmax Co. Ltd, said.
(Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo and Jonathan
Leff in Singapore; editing by James Jukwey)
