* Dollar under pressure as Obama tours China
* OPEC president says too early to talk about output changes
* Swelling U.S. oil stocks highlight demand weakness
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Chris Baldwin
LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose above $77 a
barrel on Monday, taking back most of last week's 1.4 percent
losses as the dollar drifted lower.
U.S crude futures for December delivery <CLc1> rose 57 cents
to $76.92 a barrel by 1414 GMT, having risen as high as $77.58
in earlier trade only to retrace after the release of U.S.
economic data showing larger-than-expected rise in retail
sales. []
London Brent crude <LCOc1> gained 55 cents to $76.86.
"The trading range is between $74.50 and $78.50, and we're
just bouncing up and down between there today. It's actually
quite a quiet session," said broker Christopher Bellew at Bache
Financial.
The U.S. dollar slipped on Monday against a basket of
currencies <.DXY> as it heads into a week likely to see
increased debate over "market-oriented exchange rates" during
U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to China. []
"Definitely China will be moving the market more than
anything else," said Commerzbank commodity analyst Eugen
Weinberg. "The market is being driven by sentiment, not by the
fundamentals of supply and demand."
A weaker dollar typically supports commodities because
dollar-priced contracts become cheaper for buyers using other
currencies.
Underlining views that global economic imbalances are
reflected by the weakening dollar, the head of the International
Monetary Fund said a stronger Chinese yuan was part of the
reforms Beijing needed to implement to increase domestic
consumption. []
MARKET OVERSUPPLIED
There was little impact from comments by OPEC's president,
Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, that the market was still
oversupplied and he was satisfied with current oil prices and
compliance, which he put at about 65 percent. []
Hopes of a revival in energy demand from Japan supported
prices, but analysts at J P Morgan said "one by one the
supply-side arguments both short and longer term are being
scratched off the list of reasons for oil prices to go higher."
"The argument for the bull side of the oil market...is
increasingly centered around the surge in global liquidity as
the economy takes off," JP Morgan's Kristi Jones wrote in their
Global Energy Strategy newsletter.
With most corporate results already reported, market
watchers will seek the next catalyst to set direction for the
dollar, stocks and commodities.
That puts this week's round of economic data in the
spotlight, including U.S. retail sales, inflation and housing
starts data.
Analysts said the potential for oil price gains could be
limited, however, with U.S. data pointing to a choppy recovery,
while bulging fuel inventories also reflected sluggish energy
demand. []
(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Perth; editing by James
Jukwey)
