Oil set for 5 pct weekly gain on U.S. demand, inventories

                                
   * Oil heads for fourth-biggest weekly gain of 2010
                                
 * Coming Up: U.S. wholesale inventories May; 1400 GMT
                                
 * For a technical view, click: [ID:nSGE668005]
                                
 By Alejandro Barbajosa
                                
 SINGAPORE, July 9 (Reuters) - Oil was headed for a
five-percent weekly gain, the biggest since May, after
government statistics showed robust U.S. demand growth and
falling inventories, while positive economic indicators lifted
sentiment across markets.
                                
 Asian equities inched higher on Friday, after solid
earnings from key retail chains and a better than expected
weekly U.S. jobs report sent Wall Street higher on Thurday.
                                
 U.S. crude inventories fell 5 million barrels last week,
more than twice as much as expected, while the nation's demand
for distillate fuels including heating oil and diesel soared 30
percent in the past four weeks from a year earlier, the Energy
Information Administration said on Thursday. [EIA/S]
                                
 "Oil was probably sold too heavily to the downside," said
Peter McGuire, managing director at CWA Global Markets in
Sydney. "Distillate usage is a wonderful indicator for tracking
industrial production, it's a great sign of a turnaround."
                                
 U.S. crude for August <CLc1> rose 29 cents to $75.73 a
barrel on Friday by 0252 GMT on the New York Mercantile
Exchange, after touching an intraday peak of $76 on Thursday,
the highest price this month. ICE Brent <LCOc1> gained 38 cents
to $75.09.
                                
 Oil was headed for its fourth-biggest weekly gain of the
year. For a graphic, click:
 http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ABE_20100907103202.jpg
                                
 But front-month WTI was still well below a 19-month peak
above $87 reached in early May, having rebounded sharply from a
trough below $65 on May 20.
                                
 Wall Street staged a late-day surge on Thursday, extending
a rally to three days on upbeat U.S. jobs data that also
boosted European shares to 10-day highs and the euro to a
two-week peak. [MKTS/GLOB]
                                
 "With equity markets rebounding, there is a little bit more
positive sentiment," McGuire said.
                                
 The International Monetary Fund raised its 2010 global
growth forecast on Thursday, citing an expansion in Asia and in
U.S. private sector demand. The IMF raised its 2010 global
output growth forecast to 4.6 percent from 4.2 percent after a
fall of 0.6 percent in 2009. [ID:nTOE666034]
                                
 The IMF said a double-dip recession was unlikely, which
helped boost the outlook for oil demand.
                                
 Oil inventories at the key U.S. Cushing, Oklahoma, crude
oil hub fell more than 350,000 barrels in the week to July 6 to
38.9 million barrels, figures from energy industry data
provider Genscape showed on Thursday. [ID:nNLL8IE68I]
                                
 U.S. gasoline inventories unexpectedly rose by 1.32 million
barrels last week, EIA data showed, even after consumption
increased by 2.4 percent over the past four weeks from a year
earlier. Distillate stocks rose a smaller-than-expected 321,000
barrels. [ID:nN08206156]
                                
 The Obama administration declined to label China a currency
manipulator in a long-delayed report on Thursday, spurring
fresh calls from U.S. lawmakers for tough new steps to pressure
Beijing. [ID:nN08229303]
 (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)