* China crude oil imports slip in July, weigh on oil
* Dollar up, investors cautious awaiting Fed results
* Coming up: API oil inventory report at 4:30 p.m. EDT
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity
NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Oil futures pared some of
their losses on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said it would
keep rates low for an extended period and funnel proceeds from
its maturing mortgage bonds into longer-term government debt in
an effort to support a sputtering economic recovery.
The U.S. dollar fell against the yen and erased gains
against the euro after the Fed statement, helping oil to trim
its losses.
The prospect of continued cheap money helped cheer Wall
Street as U.S. stocks also recovered some ground.
The strength of the dollar and news of falling Chinese
crude oil imports pressured crude futures ahead of the Fed
announcement.
U.S. crude for September <CLc1> delivery fell $1.23, or
1.51 percent, to settle at $80.25 a barrel, trading from $79.20
to $81.62.
Front-month ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $1.36 to $79.63 a
barrel by 2:50 p.m. EDT (1850 GMT).
"The oil markets appear to have found some support on the
Fed announcement that it will continue to keep interest rates
exceptionally low for an extended period. Low interest rates
attract money to commodities. The dollar paring its gains
allowed crude futures to pare losses," said Gene McGillian,
analyst, Tradition Energy, Stamford, Connecticut:
CHINESE CRUDE OIL IMPORTS SLOW
Along with the dollar's strength, oil futures and equities
markets were pressured by news of reduced Chinese imports in
July.
The world's second biggest energy consumer after the United
States imported 19 million tonnes, or 4.47 million barrels, of
crude per day in July, down 17.5 percent from June's record 5.4
million bpd, official data showed. []
In the same month, overall imports rose 22.7 percent, well
short of forecasts, helping to drive down Chinese share prices
<> by 2.9 percent. [] European equity markets
also slumped. <.MIWD00000PUS>
Demand from China has been a key factor supporting oil
prices as consumption in developed markets has stalled.
Consistent demand growth in China has been a key as energy
use expectation as demand in developed markets has stalled.
"The news out of China that its oil imports fell last month
for the first time in 16 months depressed oil futures today.
There's really very little fundamentally that supports oil
staying above $80 a barrel at this point," said Mark Waggoner,
president of Excel Futures in Bend, Oregon.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Barbara Lewis
in London and Florence Tan in Singapore; editing by Jim
Marshall)
