* U.S. stocks up on earnings, home sales data, support oil
* Companies restoring output after Bonnie, weighs on oil
* Coming up: API oil inventory data Tuesday 4:30 p.m. EDT
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity, changes byline and
moves dateline from previous LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices seesawed near
unchanged levels on Monday as stronger-than-expected U.S. home
sales data lifted prices even as energy companies restarted
production after Tropical Storm Bonnie fizzled.
U.S. crude for September delivery <CLc1> slipped 12 cents
to $78.86 a barrel by 12:49 p.m. EDT (1649 GMT), having
seesawed between $78.06 and $79.33.
U.S. crude prices reached an 11-week high at $79.60 a
barrel on Friday before ending just below $79 and still ended
up 3.91 percent for the week. Thursday's $79.30 settlement was
the highest close since prices ended at $79.97 on May 5.
In London on Monday, ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> was down 6
cents at $77.39.
Oil prices turned positive when government data showed
sales of new U.S. single-family homes rebounded strongly in
June from May's record low, driving the number of houses on the
market to the lowest level in nearly 42 years. []
A brighter outlook from economic bellweather FedEx Corp
<FDX.N> and the new home sales data sent U.S. stocks higher,
building on the biggest three-week gain for the S&P 500 Index
<.SPX> in a year. []
Oil's price strength remained curbed as energy companies
restarted production that had been shut in last week ahead of
Tropical Storm Bonnie. Bonnie dissipated over the Gulf of
Mexico on Saturday, the storm having done little damage.
Bonnie had caused the suspension of more than half of crude
oil production in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf and about 25
percent of gas output. []
"Crude has been on both sides of unchanged today because
the storm didn't do any real damage so that provides some
pressure, but the market is optimistic about the homes sales
data, the stock market and that the banks' stress test is
over," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in
Chicago.
This week's inventory reports will give traders a snapshot
of where U.S. oil inventories stood on Friday, after last
week's reports showed a surprise crude stocks rise and big
jumps in refined products stored.
A Reuters poll of 31 analysts, banks and government
agencies on Monday yielded an expectation U.S. crude oil prices
will average $79.44 in 2010, down from $79.86 in the June
survey. []
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For a technical view of oil prices, see: []
For Reuters poll on prices click []
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While not prominent in trader chatter on Monday, several
ongoing geopolitical disputes lurked in the background.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Sunday to
cut oil supplies to the United States in case of a military
attack from Colombia as a dispute escalated over charges his
country harbors Colombian rebels. []
Venezuela is one of the top exporters to the United
States.
The dispute over Iran's nuclear program also simmered. The
European Union imposed tighter sanctions on Iran on Monday,
approving measures to block oil and gas investment and curtail
Tehran's refining and natural gas capability. []
But Iran is ready to return to talks on a nuclear fuel swap
without conditions, its envoy to the International Atomic
Energy Agency was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news
agency. []
(Additional reporting by David Turner in London and Fayen Wong
in Perth; Editing by David Gregorio)
