PERTH, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on
Wednesday on a stronger dollar and the U.S. Federal Reserve's
comments that recovery in the world's largest economy remained
slow.
FUNDAMENTALS
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, January crude
slipped 18 cents to $88.10 a barrel at 0200 GMT.
* The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday offered only a
cautious nod to the economy's improving prospects as it put a
spotlight on lofty unemployment and reaffirmed its commitment
to buy $600 billion in bonds. []
* U.S. crude oil inventories dropped last week as imports
fell, while oil product stocks rose, an American Petroleum
Institute report showed. Crude inventories fell by 1.4 million
barrels in the week through Dec. 10, compared with analyst
expectations for a 2.5 million-barrel drop in a Reuters poll.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release
its inventory report at 1530 GMT.
* More Chinese households believe that inflation will
continue to increase and more Chinese bankers think policy
will be tightened further, the central bank said on Wednesday
in the publication of quarterly surveys. []
* China should concentrate more on quantitative tools,
especially banks' required reserves, to manage rising
inflation and should tread carefully before raising interest
rates or exchange rates, a senior government researcher said
in remarks published on Wednesday. []
* Chief executives of large U.S. companies are much more
optimistic about the economy than a few months ago, although
their expectations for growth remain modest, according to a
quarterly survey by the Business Roundtable. []
MARKETS NEWS
* Japan's Nikkei average stayed flat on Wednesday as
investors took profits from earlier gains while technical
signs still showed overheating in the market. []
* U.S. stocks cut gains to end mostly flat after a
late-day sell-off on Tuesday in New York as yet another
cautious statement from the Federal Reserve on the economy
offset strong retail sales data for November.
* The dollar edged up against a basket of major currencies
early in Asia on Wednesday in the wake of upbeat U.S. economic
data, but commodity currencies were the real winners with the
Australian dollar back at parity against the greenback.
* Spot gold held steady on Wednesday, after the Federal
Reserve reaffirmed its commitment on monetary easing, but a
dollar rebound is expected to weigh.
* U.S. futures regulator will unveil this week a broad
framework for controlling speculation in commodity markets but
will likely delay imposing detailed limits amid industry
concerns that trading volumes would dry up. []
(GMT) DATA/EVENTS
1200 U.S. Mortgage index Weekly
1330 U.S. Ex-food/Energy mm Nov
1330 U.S. Consumer Prices mm Nov
1330 U.S. Ex-food/Energy yy Nov
1330 U.S. Consumer Prices yy Nov
1330 U.S. Real earnings Nov
1400 U.S. Net capital inflows Oct
1415 U.S. Industrial output mm Nov
1500 U.S. NAHB housing market indx Dec
1530 U.S. EIA weekly crude stocks
1530 U.S. EIA weekly dist. stocks
1530 U.S. EIA weekly gasoline stk
* NYMEX January crude options expire on Wednesday.
* The NYMEX January crude contract expires on Dec. 20.
(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
