* Trade volume light ahead of inventory data
* U.S. dollar index climbs on strong housing data
(Recasts, updates prices and market activity)
By Rebekah Kebede
NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Oil rose slightly on
Wednesday, holding above $77 a barrel in choppy, light-volume
trading as the market weighed positive U.S. housing and
industrial output data against pressure from a stronger U.S.
dollar.
U.S. crude for March delivery <CLc1> rose 36 cents to
$77.37 a barrel by 1:08 p.m. EST (1808 GMT).
Oil prices reached a session high of $77.82 a barrel and a
low of $76.53 after closing 3.9 percent higher on Tuesday, the
biggest percentage gain since it rose 5.8 percent on Sept. 30.
London Brent crude for April <LCOc1> rose 52 cents to
$76.20 a barrel.
Oil traders were waiting for the release of oil inventory
reports for the United States, the world's top oil consumer, on
Wednesday and Thursday.
"We are waiting for the inventory data and the trading
volume really has not been much. So, all of our probe to the
downside, our recovery into positive territory and all of that
seems like it's a response to light breeze as opposed to
hurricane conditions," said Tim Evans, energy analyst for Citi
Futures Perspective, in New York.
The NYMEX front-month volume in the early afternoon was
approaching 190,000 contracts, relatively light for the day.
The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on
Wednesday, boosted by stronger-than-forecast U.S. housing and
industrial output data. The euro fell 1 percent due to
continued pressure by Greece's fiscal problems. []
U.S. housing starts rebounded more strongly than expected
to their highest in six months in January, while permits fell
slightly less than forecast, a government report showed on
Wednesday.[]
Industrial output rose 0.9 in January, also exceeding
analyst expectations. []
Strength in the U.S. dollar typically pressures oil prices
by discouraging non-U.S. investor interest in
dollar-denominated commodities.
Industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) will
issue data at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Wednesday -- delayed
one day due to a holiday -- while the Energy Information
Administration's (EIA) data is due at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) on
Thursday.
Crude inventories in the United States were expected to
have risen by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 12, as
imports that had been delayed by weather along the Gulf Coast
came ashore, according to a preliminary Reuters poll of
analysts on Tuesday. []
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel,
fell by 1.6 million barrels, with demand for heating fuel seen
higher after two heavy snowstorms hit the U.S. East Coast.
Gasoline supplies rose by 1.6 million barrels, the poll
showed.
(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons and Gene Ramos in New
York, Chris Baldwin in London, Seng Li Peng in Singapore;
Editing by David Gregorio)
