* Asia-Pacific ex-Japan stocks index rises to '09 high
* Violence in Iran keeps prices supported
* New U.S. housing starts and permits jump in June
(Releads, updates prices, analyst's comments)
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, July 20 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $64 a barrel on
Monday, extending last session's 2.5 percent gains, bolstered
by a rally in Asian stocks and fall in the dollar on hopes of a
global economic recovery.
Oil gained 6.1 percent last week -- its first weekly gain
in a month -- thanks to a series of positive economic data and
a rally in the equities markets, which came on the back of
better-than-expected U.S. corporate earnings.
The slide in risk appetite also knocked the dollar, with
the euro rising to a three-week high. []
U.S. crude oil for August delivery <CLc1> rose 54 cents to
$64.10 a barrel by 0300 GMT, after settling up $1.54 at $63.56
on Friday. London Brent crude for September <LCOc1> rose 55
cents to $65.93.
"Gains in the stock markets are lifting risk appetite,
which is helping to push oil prices higher," Ben Westmore, a
commodities analyst at the National Bank of Australia.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan climbed
for a fifth session to the highest since late September 2008 on
Monday, with hopes for corporate earnings lifting sentiment
across the board. []
News that CIT Group Inc's <CIT.N> board approved a deal
with bondholders for $3 billion in rescue financing to the
lender late on Sunday also lifted risk appetite.
Oil's gains on Friday were boosted by a government report
that showed construction of new homes and the issue of building
permits in the United States rose more than expected in June,
signaling a potential economic recovery. []
Tensions in Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter,
as well as worries about a tropical wave in the Central
Atlantic, which has a small chance of developing into a
tropical cyclone -- also helped buoy oil prices.
[]
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under fire
from leading hardliners for naming as his top deputy a man who
said Iran was friends with everyone, including arch-foe Israel,
local media said on Sunday. []
But with oil prices having rebounded by nearly $4 last
week, some analysts are cautioning against excessive optimism
as the latest inventory data in the United States was still
painting a bearish picture for energy demand.
"As was the case with the March-June upward trend and the
subsequent correction, price action in recent days has been, in
our view, driven by non-fundamentals," Michael Wittner, global
head of oil research at Societe Generale, said in a report.
"When prices are being driven by non-fundamentals, we are
cautious, and doubly so when trying to call a turn," Wittner
said, adding that technical analysis indicates that another
downward move on oil prices should be expected this week.
In a sign that investors were now more bullish on oil
prices, crude oil speculators on the New York Mercantile
Exchange increased their net long positions in the week to July
14, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission released on Friday. []
Open interest was concentrated at the $65 and $70 September
call crude oil option and at the $60 put option, according to
Reuters data on Friday.
(Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
