* U.S. crude oil stocks jump 7.31 mln bbls - EIA
* U.S. durable goods orders fall, clouding growth outlook
* Coming Up: U.S. jobless claims data; Thursday 1230 GMT
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity to settlement)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell a second
straight day on Wednesday on a surprise crude oil inventory
build and weak economic data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration inventory report
showed crude stocks rose 7.31 million barrels last week as
imports jumped. [] A Reuters analyst survey had forecast
crude oil stocks would be down 1.6 million barrels.
Gasoline and distillate stocks also rose, though not as
much as expected, which helped gasoline futures recover and
settle slightly higher as the August gasoline and heating oil
contracts found support as expiration on Friday neared.
U.S. crude for September delivery <CLc1> fell 51 cents, or
0.66 percent, to settle at $76.99 a barrel, having recovered
from a $75.90 low and traded as high as $77.74.
August RBOB gasoline <RBQ0> rose 0.02 cent to settle at
$2.0634 a gallon, while August heating oil <HOQ0> dipped 0.30
cent to settle at $1.9964 a gallon.
ICE Brent <LCOc1> slipped 7 cents to settle at $76.06 a
barrel, having traded from $74.80 to $76.40.
"The crude data looks decidedly bearish and we also view
the gasoline supply hike, albeit slight, as negative. Crude
imports above 11 million barrels per day is also extremely
bearish," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch &
Associates.
The crude oil inventory growth was the biggest jump since
the week to Oct. 3, 2008, according to EIA data. The build came
despite refinery capacity use dropping 0.9 percentage point.
Crude oil imports surged by 1.18 million barrels per day to
11.12 million bpd, the highest level for imports since the week
of Aug. 25, 2006.
Inventories rose 66,000 barrels to 37.17 million barrels at
the key Cushing, Oklahoma, hub, delivery point for the New York
Mercantile Exchange's benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude.
Many analysts had expected total crude stocks to be lower
on disruptions from Tropical Storm Bonnie as it approached the
Gulf of Mexico last week. Bonnie dissipated last weekend,
having done little damage to regional energy infrastructure,
although some oil production was shut in late in the week.
The oil inventory report followed reports of cooling
second-quarter economic growth that had already pressured oil.
New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods fell
unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, posting their
largest decline since August. []
The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book summary of national
economic conditions, based on information before July 19,
pointed to a less-than-booming recovery. []
These reports followed Tuesday's report that showed U.S.
consumer confidence plummeted in July amid persistent fears
about employment. []
Ahead of the consumer confidence report on Tuesday, crude
oil prices had reached $79.69, their highest in almost 12
weeks.
EYEING 200-DAY MOVING AVG
Tuesday's U.S. crude price slump to a $77.50 settlement
left prices 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 on Tuesday.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic of U.S. crude front month vs 200-day moving avg
http://link.reuters.com/xav89m
Graphic of correlation between U.S. crude and S&P 500:
http://link.reuters.com/baw89m
Graphic on technical outlook for U.S. crude:
http://link.reuters.com/xat99m
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
"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," Olivier Jakob,
consultant at Petromatrix, said.
U.S. stock indexes fell on Wednesday, also weighed by the
weak economic data. [] The dollar rose against the euro but
fell against the yen. []
(Additional reporting by Eileen Moustakis and Rebekah Kebede
in New York and Christopher Johnson in London; Editing by David
Gregorio)
