* Equities, euro, drop on euro zone debt worry, hit oil
* U.S. consumer confidence fell in June, weighs on oil
* Coming up: API oil inventory data, 4:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity, moves dateline from
previous LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 3
percent on Tuesday, as fiscal problems in the euro zone and
downbeat data from both China and the United States made
investors more risk averse.
Prices hit an intraday seven-week high on Monday, before
ending lower after forecasts indicated that Tropical Storm Alex
would skirt the Gulf of Mexico's main production centers.
At 12:50 p.m. (1650 GMT), U.S. crude for August <CLc1> was
down $2.55, or 3.26 percent, at $75.70, having tumbled as low
as $75.28 per barrel.
ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $2.34 to $75.25.
"It is a return to risk aversion," said Eugen Weinberg, a
commodity analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "Gold <XAU=> is
outperforming other commodities, a sign of a move to safe
havens, and base metals are down on worries over the economy."
"The oil market is no longer worried about Tropical Storm
Alex as it looks like it will avoid oil facilities."
Oil declined along with equities and the euro on concerns
about whether Europe's banks can repay 442 billion euros
($545.5 billion) to the European Central Bank. []
The mood turned gloomier after a report from the industry
group the Conference Board showed U.S. consumer confidence fell
steeply in June. []
Adding to concerns about economic growth and demand for
oil, the Conference Board corrected its leading economic index
for China to a 0.3 percent gain in April rather than the 1.7
percent rise earlier reported. []
The dollar's strength added pressure to the commodities
complex. A stronger dollar often weighs on commodity markets,
but that correlation has proved erratic this year.
On Tuesday, the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB>, a
global commodities benchmark, fell to a two-week low.
ALEX NEARS HURRICANE STRENGTH
The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects Tropical Storm
Alex to make landfall near the Texas-Mexico border early on
Thursday after strengthening into the first hurricane of the
Atlantic season. []
Shell <RDSa.L> and other producers shut several thousand
barrels per day of production in the Gulf of Mexico and other
energy companies also removed workers as a precaution.
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For a factbox on preparations ahead of Alex: []
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U.S. oil inventories are well above average, potentially
buffering the effect of weather-related production disruptions
as oil markets eyed Alex and awaited weekly inventory reports.
Crude stockpiles likely fell 1.1 million barrels last week
due to a decline in imports, a Reuters preliminary analyst
survey on Monday forecast ahead of industry American Petroleum
Institute data due out at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). []
Inventories of distillates, including heating oil and
diesel fuel, were expected to be up 900,000 barrels, while
gasoline stockpiles were forecast to have fallen 400,000
barrels.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Christopher
Johnson in London, and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore)
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons)
