* U.S. weekly crude stocks seen up on imports -poll
* Investors eye equities, economic data for cues
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Oil steadied at below $79 a
barrel on Tuesday, pausing after three straight days of
decline, as investors awaited fresh leads from the equities
market as well as more economic data to gauge the pace of the
global economic recovery.
Traders are also eyeing the weekly American Petroleum
Institute (API) crude oil report, which should give an
indication of the strength of energy demand in the world's
largest energy consumer.
U.S. crude for December delivery <CLc1> crept up 5 cents to
$78.73 a barrel by 0302 GMT, after settling down $1.82 at
$78.68 on Monday.
London Brent crude was up 9 cents at $77.35.
Although crude prices have risen nearly 77 percent so far
this year, they are still almost 47 percent below the record of
more than $147 per barrel attained last July.
"There is a sense of caution in the air. The U.S. equities
markets have already retraced for two days and there is growing
concern about the strength of the U.S. economy," said Benson
Wang, a trader at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.
"The market seems to recognize that oil has been somewhat
overbought, especially since there's a high chance that the
U.S. jobless rate would hit 10 percent, which could put a
serious strain on the recovery."
The VIX indicator <.VIX>, Wall Street's favourite barometer
of market volatility, jumped 9.16 percent on Monday,
highlighting how skittish sentiment has become towards stocks
<.SPX> and other riskier assets like commodities and
growth-linked currencies.
Analysts said investors were likely to stay wary ahead of
U.S. consumer numbers for October and house price index data
for August, both due later in the day. Also, some cautiousness
among traders is likely to prevail ahead of third-quarter U.S.
gross domestic product (GDP) data on Thursday.
Analysts expect the U.S. economy to expand 3.3 percent in
the third quarter []. Anything lower, like the shock GDP
numbers from Britain late last week, could trigger another wave
of selling in riskier assets.
Oil has lost about 4 percent since striking a 14-month high
of $82 a barrel last Wednesday, weighed down by bearish
economic data and as disappointing corporate earnings sparked
doubts on the pace of a fledgling U.S. recovery.
U.S. crude inventories probably rose 1.4 million barrels
last week, according to a preliminary Reuters poll ahead of an
American Petroleum Institute's weekly data later on Tuesday.
[]
Distillate stocks probably declined 900,000 barrels, while
gasoline stocks were seen down 300,000 barrels, the poll
showed. The U.S. dollar, seen as a safe-haven when doubts
about a global recovery emerge, held a firmer tone on Tuesday,
pulling away from recent 14-month lows, as investors unwound
short positions and took profits in high-yielding currencies.
[]
U.S. total heating demand will be nearly 23 percent lower
than normal this week as temperatures average near to above
normal in the Northeast and the Midwest, the National Weather
Service projected on Monday. []
(Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
