Oil slips to around $77 on recovery doubts

US crude oil stocks jump surprise 7.31 million bbls: EIA
LONDON: 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 US crude oil stocks.
The US 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 US crude inventories.
The EIA figures, widely seen as bearish, followed US data showing economic growth cooled in the second quarter.
New orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods fell unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, posting their largest decline since August. On Tuesday data showed US consumers in July were the least confident about the economy since February because of job worries.
US crude for September 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 US crude stocks posted a surprise increase of 3.1 million barrels last week, against a forecast decline of 1.6 million barrels.
Those figures pushed US 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 also closed below its 200-day simple moving average.
"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." -Reuters