UPDATE 9-Oil jumps 5 pct, Saudi deepens cuts

                                
 * Oil rebounds after last week's fall to four-year low
                                
 * Saudi deepens some supply cuts ahead of OPEC meeting
                                
 * Equity market bounce aids sentiment across commodities
 (Updates prices, detail, changes dateline from LONDON)
                                
 By Richard Valdmanis
                                
 NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Oil rose more than 5 percent on
Monday as a rebound in global equity markets and prospects for
deeper production cuts from OPEC helped the market break a
six-session losing streak.
                                
 U.S. crude for January delivery <CLc1> gained $2.20 to
$43.01 a barrel by 1845 GMT, bouncing back from a 25 percent
drop last week -- its deepest weekly rout in 18 years. London
Brent crude <LCOc1> rose $2.95 to $42.69 a barrel.
                                
 "The petroleum markets are testing the upside for a change
in early Monday trading, as some of the pessimism over the
wider economy seems to be lifting, at least for now," said Tim
Evans, energy analyst, Citi Futures Perspective in New York.
                                
 The rebound came alongside gains in other global commodity
and equity markets as investors took heart from efforts by
Washington to finalize a rescue for the struggling U.S. auto
industry. [ID:nN07466561]
                                
 Oil also got a boost Monday from signs of deepening supply
cuts from top world supplier Saudi Arabia and prospects for a
fresh OPEC agreement to further trim output when the cartel
meets Dec. 17.
                                
 "OPEC's meeting is nine days away, meaning that we could
see some strengthening leading into the meeting," said Edward
Meir, of futures broker MF Global.
                                
 Saudi Arabia, which has said it is seeking a $75 price for
a barrel of oil, told oil refiners in Asia it would deepen
supply cuts to as much as 10 percent of contracted volumes in
January versus a 5 percent cut in December [nT174159]. It also
reduced January supplies to some European refiners.
                                
 OPEC, facing a more-than $100 slide in oil prices since
July, has already agreed to cut about 2 million barrels per day
(bpd) of production to support prices and members are leaning
toward more supply cuts at the Dec. 17 meeting in Algeria.
[ID:nL3531815]
                                
 "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."
                                
 OPEC will fight hard to keep oil prices from falling below
$40 a barrel, an official with U.S. fund manager BlackRock said
on Monday. [ID:nN08298667]
                                
 "Is it going to $30? No. Our view is that $40 is a flash
point for many of the Middle East countries. They will protect
the $40 price," Bob Doll, global chief investment officer of
equities at BlackRock, told the Reuters Investment Outlook
Summit in New York.
                                
 Monday's rally spanned the commodities complex, with gold
and copper rebounding strongly. [GOL/]
                                
 European shares were firmer after strong gains in Asia
[.EU] and U.S. shares opened sharply higher. [.N]
 (Additional reporting by Jane Merriman in London, Osamu
Tsukimori in Tokyo and Jonathan Leff in Singapore; editing by
Jim Marshall)