* U.S. crude oil stocks jump surprise 7.31 mln bbls - EIA
* U.S. durable goods orders fall, clouding growth outlook
* Front-month U.S. crude slips further below 200-day MA
* Coming Up: U.S. weekly jobless data; Thursday 1230 GMT
(Updates throughout)
By Christopher Johnson
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Oil fell more than $1 towards
$76 per barrel on Wednesday after economic and industry data
fuelled doubts over the pace of recovery in energy demand and
government figures showed a big rise in U.S. crude oil stocks.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported
crude oil stocks rose 7.31 million barrels last week as imports
jumped. The EIA also said gasoline and distillate stocks rose,
though not as much as had been projected. []
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a draw of around 1.6
million barrels in U.S. crude inventories.
The EIA figures, widely seen as bearish, followed U.S. data
showing economic growth cooled in the second quarter.
New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell
unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, posting their
largest decline since August. On Tuesday data showed U.S.
consumers in July were the least confident about the economy
since February because of job worries. []
[]
U.S. crude for September <CLc1> fell as much as $1.60 at one
point to a low of $75.90 before recovering to trade around
$76.50, down $1.00 by 1458 GMT. ICE Brent lost 73 cents to
$75.40.
"The crude data looks decidedly bearish and we also view the
gasoline supply hike, albeit slight, as negative," said Jim
Ritterbusch, president, Ritterbusch & Associates.
Prices touched $79.69 per barrel on Tuesday, their highest
in almost 12 weeks, but then tumbled on the consumer confidence
data and after the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude
stocks posted a surprise increase of 3.1 million barrels last
week, against a forecast decline of 1.6 million barrels.
RESISTANCE
Those figures pushed U.S. crude down to $77.50 by Tuesday's
close, significantly well below the front-month contract's
200-day moving average. The S&P 500 Index <.SPX> also closed
below its 200-day simple moving average.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic showing U.S. light crude oil futures front
month versus its 200-day moving average, click:
http://link.reuters.com/xav89m
For a graphic of the correlation between U.S. crude and the
S&P 500 Index, click: http://link.reuters.com/baw89m
For a graphic on the technical outlook for U.S. crude,
click: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20102807085210.jpg
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
"With trading volume at the lows of the year, continued
stock builds, weakening product cracks, we will remain very
cautious on any attempt to move above $80 per barrel on the wake
of the S&P," Olivier Jakob, consultant at Petromatrix, said.
"WTI moved back below the 200-day moving average and both
WTI and the S&P still need to prove that they can sustain that
line as a support rather than a resistance."
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
has for the past year and a half expressed a preference for
prices to remain stable around $75, saying that encourages
investment to sustain and increase production capacity and does
not threaten the economic recovery.
(Editing by Alison Birrane)
