* Market awaits U.S. weekly inventory data due later
* Fed Chairman Bernanke's testimony to set trading tone
(Updates lead, prices, adds Sinopec)
By Jennifer Tan
SINGAPORE, July 21 (Reuters) - Oil fell below $64 a barrel
on Tuesday, as the dollar edged off six-week lows and on
lingering scepticism over the pace of the global economic
rebound.
The market will turn to the release of weekly U.S.
inventory data at 2030 GMT to gauge whether talk of economic
recovery is translating into real demand in the world's top
energy consumer.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's semi-annual
testimony on the U.S. economic outlook and monetary policy at
1400 GMT will also provide more trading cues.
U.S. crude oil for August delivery, which expires later on
Tuesday, fell 43 cents to $63.55 a barrel by 0700 GMT, after
settling up 42 cents at $63.98 on Monday. London Brent crude
for September fell 73 cents to $65.71.
"The market is see-sawing based on people's perception of
the U.S. economy -- they don't really know if the recovery is
durable, and they are trading based on available data that
offers clues on the outlook," said Tony Nunan, risk manager at
Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
"But short-term fundamentals do not look strong because
inventories remain high, so we're going to be stuck in the $60s
to $70s range for a while," he added.
U.S. weekly crude stockpiles are forecast to have fallen by
1.8 million barrels in the week to July 17, marking the seventh
straight week of decline, as slow imports countered a decline
in refining activity, a Reuters poll of 10 analysts showed.
[]
The API, an industry group, will release its data at 2030
GMT, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
will unveil its own report the following day at 1430 GMT.
Demand could be recovering in the world's second-largest
oil consumer, evidenced by a slower decline in Sinopec Corp's
<0386.HK> <600028.SS> second quarter fuel sales. []
Domestic sales of refined oil products by the top refiner
in Asia declined 4.8 percent from a year earlier to about 31.28
million tonnes in the past three months, a Reuters calculation
showed, compared with a 12.4-percent drop in the first quarter.
Asian stocks edged up to a 10-month peak on Tuesday on
strong company earnings, prompting a further shift into riskier
assets from the safe-haven dollar, which edged off six-week
lows against the euro struck the previous day. []
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak on the
economic outlook and monetary policy before the House Financial
Services Committee at 1400 GMT, and some analysts expect he is
likely to make clear there is no rush to tighten.
Bernanke, writing in the Wall Street Journal ahead of his
testimony, said accommodative policies would likely be
warranted for an extended period, but the Fed would need to
tighten policy to prevent inflation as economic recovery takes
hold. []
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
