UPDATE 3-Oil hovers below $77 on demand uncertainty

                                
 * European equities steady, U.S. dollar recovers
                                
 * OPEC ministers signal output quotas to remain unchanged
                                
 * Coming Up: U.S. Midwest manufacturing 1600 GMT
 
                                
 (Changes throughout, adds quote, updates prices)
                                
 By Joe Brock
                                
 LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Oil hovered below $77 a barrel
on Monday, tracking unsettled European stock markets, as the
outlook for global economic recovery and future energy demand
remained uncertain.
                                
 European shares traded sideways on Monday after Asian stocks
rose to their highest in more than two years. This followed a
rally on Wall Street on Friday fuelled by encouraging economic
data.
                                
 U.S. crude for November delivery <CLc1> rose 9 cents to
$76.58 a barrel at 0939 GMT after earlier touching $76.89, the
highest price since Sept. 14. On Friday it jumped 1.7 percent,
capping the strongest weekly gain since July. ICE Brent for
November <LCOc1> was down 6 cents at $78.81.
                                
 Oil prices have traded largely in a $70-$80 a barrel range
since the beginning of May, driven by mixed economic indicators
and swings on global stock markets. [MKTS/GLOB] 
                                
 "Oil's looking at Europe and U.S. equities at the moment as
it has been for months. It's hard to get away from that," said
James Hughes, market analyst at CMC markets in London.
                                
 "European stock markets are doing very little but later this
week we'll be looking at GDP revisions for direction," Hughes
said.
                                
 U.S. manufacturing data is one of only a few economic
indicators to watch on Monday, while consumer confidence data
and UK GDP numbers on Tuesday should provide greater direction.
                                
 
                                
 ECONOMIC DATA
                                
 Oil and U.S. stock markets rallied on Friday after data
showed new orders for a wide range of long-lasting U.S.
manufactured goods rose in August and business spending plans
rebounded strongly, separate reports showed on Friday.
                                
 The U.S. durable goods report eased some concerns of a
double-dip recession and implied a modest pick-up in output.
[ID:nN24184114]
                                
 Money managers cut net-long crude oil positions on the New
York Mercantile Exchange to less than 97,000 in the week through
Sept. 21 from almost 114,000 a week earlier, the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. [ID:nN24198802]
                                
 That means the number of people betting for higher prices
decreased over the period, and the turnaround in prices at the
end of last week on the back of positive economic data created
incentives to revert those positions.
                                
 Venezuela is comfortable with global oil prices and will
call for current production levels to be maintained at an
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in
Vienna on Oct. 14, the country's oil minister Rafael Ramirez
said on Sunday. [ID:nN26214932]
                                
 Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah said
on Saturday the group would leave quotas steady. [ID:nSGE68O02I]
                                
 OPEC has left its output ceiling unchanged for almost two
years since announcing a record supply curb of 4.2 million
barrels per day in December 2008 to combat lower demand and
prices. OPEC complied with 53 percent of that reduction in
August, according to a Reuters survey. [OPEC/O]
                                
 Tropical depression Matthew, which sparked floods and
knocked over trees across Central America and southern Mexico on
Sunday, threatening waterlogged sugar and coffee farms, spared
Mexican oil installations. [ID:nN26213373]
 (Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by Sue Thomas)