* U.S. existing home sales dive 27.2 pct
* U.S. crude stocks probably rose 800,000 barrels - poll
* Hurricane Danielle threat to U.S. Gulf fades
* Coming up: weekly U.S. API crude stocks; 2030 GMT
(Recasts, updates prices, adds data)
By Emma Farge
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell below $72 a
barrel on Tuesday, down for a fifth day after weak U.S. economic
data spread gloom about the ability of top consumer the United
States to work through record stocks.
U.S. crude prices <CLc1> fell $1.28 to $71.82 a barrel by
1411 GMT, after earlier sliding to $71.45, leaving prices at the
lowest level since early July.
Prices extended losses intraday after sales of previously
owned U.S. homes dropped more steeply than expected in July to
their lowest pace in 15 years, an industry group said.
[]
ICE Brent crude futures <LCOc1> shed $1.10 by the same time
to $72.52 a barrel, maintaining its premium to the rival
benchmark established last week.
"Existing home data was worse than expected and is putting
pressure on everything," said Tom Bentz, broker at BNP Paribas
Commodity Futures Inc in New York.
U.S. equities slid more than 1 percent at the open on
Tuesday after the poor data, reinforcing the strong correlation
between the two asset classes. []
On the supply side, U.S. crude oil inventories are forecast
to have risen by 800,000 barrels last week, according to a
preliminary Reuters poll of eight analysts ahead of American
Petroleum Institute data at 2030 GMT and U.S. government data on
Wednesday. []
Typically stocks fall through the summer driving season, but
they instead rose to a record high in the United States in the
week to Aug. 13.
"The bearish trend since Aug. 17 is intact. Economic
momentum is slowing, and everyone is worried about it. Both
supply and demand fundamentals are weak," said VTB Capital
analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
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For a graphic on the correlation with equities, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx1/DTR_20102408091440.jpg
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Hurricane Danielle strengthened over the Atlantic Ocean to a
category two storm on Tuesday but posed no threat to land or
energy interests, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
[]
This Atlantic hurricane season was forecast to be the most
active in five years, inflating oil prices with a storm-related
premium, but few have emerged.
For now, analysts said that the potential for future storms
was likely to support oil at around $70 a barrel.
"The fact that we have yet to enter the most critical part
of the hurricane season (September) should prevent complacency
and likely force the market to hold $70 support," said Edward
Meir, senior commodity analyst at MF Global.
Oil prices have fallen by around 13 percent since hitting a
three-month high of $82.97 a barrel in early August as evidence
has mounted that the fuel demand recovery is likely to be
protracted while stocks have swelled.
(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons in New York and
Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore, editing by William Hardy)
