* U.S., European equities fall
* Oil to average $77.48 in Q4 2010-Reuters Poll
* Coming Up: U.S. Midwest manufacturing 1600 GMT
(Updates stock markets, prices)
By Joe Brock
LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Oil fell below $76 a barrel on Monday, tracking weak stock markets, as the outlook for global economic recovery and future energy demand remained uncertain.
U.S. and European shares drifted lower on Monday, pressuring oil prices, as investors paused to assess four straight weeks of gains on Wall Street. [
]U.S. crude for November delivery <CLc1> fell 63 cents to $75.86 a barrel at 1407 GMT after earlier touching $77.17, 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 94 cents at $77.93.
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. [
]"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.
A Reuters poll of 28 analysts highlighted oil's tight range as consensus forecasts for the fourth quarter of this year and 2011 were revised slightly lower due to weak demand from developed nations. [
] <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Reuters Insider interview with Credit Agricole CIB analyst Christophe Barret: http://link.reuters.com/tyq35p ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
ECONOMIC DATA
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.
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. [
]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. [
]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 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, its oil minister Rafael Ramirez said on Sunday, a view also echoed by Kuwait. [
] [ ]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. [
] (Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; editing by James Jukwey)