* U.S. economic data restores some optimism to markets
* Oil prices seen firmly in $70-75 range
* Weaker dollar offers boost to oil and commodities
By Ramthan Hussain
SINGAPORE, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Oil rose further above $72 on
Friday after snapping a two-day fall from 10-month highs a day
ago, boosted by better-than-expected GDP and jobs data in the
United States that signal the economic recovery is on track.
Crude oil prices were also given a lift by a weaker U.S.
dollar versus the euro <EUR=> and the commodity-linked
Australian dollar, as well as by a late rebound on Wall Street,
but were tempered by falls in Chinese stocks.
U.S. crude for October <CLc1> gained 11 cents to $72.61 a
barrel by 0301 GMT, rising further after jumping $1.06 on
Thursday. Prices had fallen as low as $69.83 earlier the
previous day on worries about high U.S. crude and heating oil
stocks and weak demand, retreating from a high of $75 this
week.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> was flat at $72.51.
"People are still looking at the stock markets and the
weaker U.S. dollar against the euro, but the market still lacks
clear direction," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives
sales manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo, adding that it would
take up to a month for a clearer direction to emerge.
"A lot of people are expecting the economy to go well and
the stock market to rise further, but I cannot be so optimistic
about the economy. Though it has reached a bottom, real
recovery will take two to three years -- I don't see a
"V"-shaped recovery."
Analysts expect oil prices to hold in the $70-75 range for
some time but not any higher.
The less-than-expected contraction in the U.S. economy in
the second quarter, despite a record drop in inventories, and
fewer workers filing new claims for jobless benefits, also
cheered other commodities, including industrial metals such as
copper.
Traders will now watch the Michigan business sentiment
survey on Friday for signals that the economy is truly healing,
and eye British, French, Swedish and Italian data for clues on
how the Eurozone recovery is developing.
In Asia, investors continued to watch any moves by China
to
clamp down on lending and curb overcapacity, which is still
causing chills among equities investors, sending Shanghai
stocks down 3 percent and Hong Kong 0.8 percent lower.
The Chinese market has surged more than 90 percent from the
start of the year to early August, but fell by more than 15
percent since, sparking concerns over speculation. This
prompted a senior finance ministry researcher to say on Friday
that rising Chinese property and share prices mainly reflect
economic fundamentals rather than a reappearance of asset
bubbles.
On the supply side, OPEC seaborne oil exports, excluding
Angola and Ecuador, will fall 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) in
the four weeks to Sept. 12, an analyst who tracks future
shipments said.
Exports from the group will drop to 22.53 million bpd on
average, from 22.67 million bpd in the four weeks to Aug. 15,
due to a sharp decline in eastbound shipments, UK consultancy
Oil Movements said in its latest weekly estimate. []
Oil also has yet to receive much support from the 2009
Atlantic hurricane season.
Tropical Storm Danny weakened in the Atlantic Ocean on
Thursday and was no longer expected to become a hurricane, but
edged closer to the U.S. coast on a path that could take it to
Canada's Atlantic provinces by Sunday. []
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
