UPDATE 1-Oil falls towards $48 on crude stocks, equities

                                
 * Oil falls over $1 on larger-than-expected crude build
                                
 * Market awaits EIA report for confirmation of higher
stocks
                                
 * Oil under pressure as equities dive ahead of earnings
 (Updates prices, adds higher Japanese stocks)
                                
 SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) - Oil fell by over a dollar
towards $48 a barrel on Wednesday, adding to Tuesday's 3.7
percent loss on falls for equities and after weekly data showed
U.S. crude inventories up far more than expected.
                                
 Crude oil stockpiles rose by 6.9 million barrels last week,
the American Petroleum Institute (API) said late on Tuesday,
far exceeding analyst forecasts for a 2.1-million-barrel build
and sending prices sharply down in electronic trading.
[ID:nN07604794]
                                
 Japan's crude inventories also rose, hitting their highest
level in over a month as the country's worst recession since
World War Two eats into demand for oil products. [ID:nT261347]
                                
 The market has lost 6.6 percent over the past three
sessions, also dragged down by stock markets that are taking a
hammering at the start of what is expected to be a grim
earnings season.
                                
 U.S. light crude for May delivery <CLc1> fell 97 cents a
barrel to $48.18 by 0456 GMT, after falling as low as $48.10.
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 58 cents to $50.64.
                                
 "There is optimism that demand will start increasing in the
medium term but the large inventories will prevent prices from
rising much above $50 a barrel," said Toby Hassall, head of
research at Commodity Warrants Australia.
                                
 The Energy Information Administration -- whose data is
generally seen as more comprehensive -- will release its weekly
report at 1530 GMT on Wednesday, and the market will watch for
more signs of rising stocks.
                                
 A Reuters poll forecast an average build of 1.9 million
barrels for crude stocks, already at their highest since July
1993. [EIA/S]
                                
 Stock markets, which investors are watching for clues as to
when oil consumption might rebound, are continuing to signal a
dismal economic outlook, and the first signs from the earnings
season were bearish.
                                
 Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc <AA.N>, the first company to
report its quarterly results after Wall Street closed, showed a
second consecutive quarterly loss as metal prices and the autos
industry slumped. [ID:nN07485652]
                                
 Asian stocks slid for a second day on Wednesday with
investors fleeing to the sidelines to await companies'
outlooks.
                                
 Japan's main Nikkei index was down 2.76 percent by 0458
GMT, while the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 3.55 percent.
                                
 Adding further pressure on oil, the U.S. dollar rose as
investors see the greenback as a safer haven at times of market
stress, making U.S. dollar-denominated commodities more
expensive for overseas investors. [USD/]
                                
 OPEC, which has agreed cuts amounting to 4.2 million
barrels per day (bpd) since September, is resigning itself to
lower prices this year.
                                
 The cartel can live with oil prices of $50-$60 a barrel for
the rest of 2009, a source close to the organisation's Angolan
presidency said on Tuesday, as many in the group have lowered
their price expectations with the focus on rebuilding a damaged
global economy. [ID:nL7523851]
 (Editing by Michael Urquhart)