RPT-UPDATE 2-Oil climbs above $49 on OPEC cuts, equities gains

                                
 * Oil up 1.8 pct above $49 on OPEC cuts, stock mkt gains
                                
 * OPEC trims March output, but still above target
                                
 * U.S. crude stocks rise above forecasts to 16-yr high
                                
 * Focus on U.S. jobs data, ECB rate decision, G20 meeting
 (Updates prices, adds details)
                                
 By Osamu Tsukimori
                                
 TOKYO, April 2 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $49 a barrel on
Thursday, after falling 2.6 percent the previous day, as
further supply cuts by OPEC and gains in Asian stock markets
superseded worries about the global economy.
                                
 OPEC oil supply fell in March for a seventh consecutive
month, but remained above its target as some members of the
group pumped more than agreed levels, a Reuters survey showed.
[ID:nL1223519]
                                
 Asian stocks shot to a three-month high, building a
three-day rally on hopes the U.S. economy has bottomed. Tokyo's
Nikkei <.N225> closed up 4.4 percent. [MKTS/GLOB]
                                
 "(Asian stocks) are really strong ... and oil seems to be
keeping up with that," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity
derivatives sales manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo.
                                
 Oil's losses on Wednesday were sparked by U.S. government
data showing crude stocks had risen more than expected to a
16-year high. Gasoline and distillate supplies also
unexpectedly rose. [EIA/S]
                                
 Crude for May delivery <CLc1> rose 87 cents to $49.26 a
barrel by 0647 GMT, after settling down $1.27 a day earlier.
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> was up 80 cents at $49.24 a
barrel.
                                
 Oil has fallen nearly $100 from a record high above $147 in
July 2008 as the economic downturn dents global energy demand.
                                
 "We are swinging back and forth. The real economy is still
too weak. U.S. gasoline demand is not doing very well," said
Tony Nunan, risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo. "So that
will keep the market from rising too far, but I think OPEC's
cuts will keep the market from falling too far."
                                
 Qatar's oil minister said oil prices of $40-50 a barrel are
realistic in view of the global economic downturn, according to
comments published on Thursday. [ID:nL2200893]
                                
 Investors remain sensitive to the raft of economic
developments due later on Thursday, which include an expected
rate cut by the European Central Bank and U.S. non-farm
payrolls data, both of which are likely to put downward
pressure on oil prices, he said.
                                
 The euro, dollar and yen barely budged as markets awaited
the expected cut by the ECB and what it might say on
unconventional easing. [USD/]
                                
 Forecasters polled by Reuters expect non-farm payrolls to
show a fall of 650,000 for March, similar to the 651,000 shed
in February. [ID:nN01523085]
                                
 Adding a bullish note to sentiment was a draft G20
communique containing a pledge by world leaders to regulate
major hedge funds for the first time and set up a new oversight
board to monitor the global financial system. [ID:nL1494881]
                                
 Traders said oil prices could also be affected by news that
North Korea had begun fuelling a long-range rocket and could
launch it by the weekend, broadcaster CNN said, with the United
States and others promising punishment for a move they say
violates U.N. resolutions. [ID:nSEO254231]
 (Editing by Ben Tan)