* Choppy U.S. equities end slightly lower, curb oil
* Dollar index weakens, supportive to crude
* Coming up: US consumer confidence data 10 am EDT Tuesday
(Recasts, updates with settlement prices, market activity)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices edged up on
Monday in choppy trading, mostly tracking equities that were
buffeted by bearish concerns about euro-zone banks and a bullish
flurry of merger and acquisition deals.
A late bounce kept last week's oil price gains intact. Prices
had the largest weekly percentage rise since late July and an
early push higher on Monday took oil prices briefly to a nearly
two-week high above $77 a barrel.
Crude also took support from the weak dollar as the dollar
index <.DXY> -- measuring the greenback against a basket of
currencies -- slipped. Declines in the dollar can lift oil prices
by making dollar-denominated crude oil cheaper for buyers using
other currencies.
U.S. crude for November <CLc1> delivery edged up 3 cents, or
0.04 percent, to settle at $76.52 per barrel.
It traded in a range from $75.52 to $77.17, the highest since
$77.99 on Sept. 14 when a shutdown in a pipeline carrying Canadian
crude oil to the United States was boosting prices.
Monday's trading volume was light at under 535,000 lots with
less than an hour of post-settlement trading left. That was well
below the 30-day daily average of more than 730,000 lots.
ICE Brent November crude <LCOc1> fell 30 cents to settle at
$78.57 a barrel.
"The complex spent much of the day trailing the stock market
despite the fact that equity swings were comparatively small," Jim
Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena,
Illinois, said in a note.
"Assuming some equity consolidation and some associated modest
fluctuations in the dollar as were evidenced today, nearby crude
futures may well hang out within about a $75-77 trading range
until midweek when the EIA (oil inventory data) offers up some
more guidance."
A Reuters survey of 28 analysts highlighted oil's tight
trading range as consensus forecasts for the fourth quarter of
this year and 2011 were revised slightly lower due to weak demand
from developed nations. []
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Reuters Insider - Credit Agricole discusses US crude oil
price outlook: http://link.reuters.com/tyq35p
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U.S. stocks slipped as investors paused after a four-week
rally. A flurry of merger and acquisition activity fed optimism
while euro-zone debt concerns kept sentiment in check. []
Worries about euro-zone debt resurfaced after credit agency
Moody's slashed the rating on some lower-grade debt of Anglo Irish
Bank. []
Oil prices posted their best weekly gain since late July last
week as the dollar slumped and investors bet that the U.S. Federal
Reserve will pump billions of dollars into the financial system to
support a faltering economic recovery.
After the Fed last week indicated a willingness to act to
support a faltering economic recovery, the Chicago Federal Reserve
on Monday said its Midwest manufacturing index fell in August
versus July. []
HIGH CRUDE, PRODUCTS INVENTORIES
With Thursday's expiration of October refined products
contracts approaching, refined products futures also saw volatile
trading on Monday.
U.S. heating oil futures <HOc1> fell 1.06 cents to settle at
$2.1753 a gallon. October gasoline futures <RBc1> managed to rise
0.17 cent to settle at $1.9488 a gallon.
U.S. total petroleum inventories have bulged, hitting their
highest level last week since weekly records began in 1990,
according to the Energy Information Administration. []
U.S. crude oil, total distillate and gasoline stockpiles all
remain above year-ago levels.
A Reuters preliminary survey of analysts on Monday yielded a
forecast for slightly lower crude stocks last week, while product
stockpiles likely edged up. []
(Additional reporting by Joe Brock in London and Alejandro
Barbajosa in Singapore; editing by Jim Marshall)
