* Oil steadies at above $61, investors cautious on recovery
* China's economy picks up speed, Q2 GDP growth 7.9 pct y/y
* U.S. crude stocks down, gasoline up in July 4 week
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, July 16 (Reuters) - Oil steadied at above $61 a
barrel on Thursday, after gaining 3.4 percent in the previous
session, as investors remained cautious about the pace of
global economic recovery despite positive economic growth
numbers from China.
While better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP)
growth from China, the world's No. 2 energy consumer, should
have been supportive of crude prices, analysts said persistent
worries about underlying weak energy demand weighed on
sentiment.
U.S. oil for August delivery <CLc1> dipped 13 cents to
$61.41 a barrel, after gaining 3.4 percent on Wednesday. London
Brent crude nudged up 16 cents to $63.25.
"There's no doubt that the Chinese GDP numbers are positive
and would provide an underlying support for crude," said Victor
Shum, a Singapore-based analyst at Purvin & Gertz.
"But sentiments are still cautious and investors are also
somewhat sceptical of an economic recovery anytime soon,
particularly in the U.S., where unemployment is still very
high."
China's annual gross domestic product growth accelerated in
the second quarter to 7.9 percent from 6.1 percent in the
first, beating analysts' forecast for a growth rate of 7.5
percent and making it the best-performing major economy in the
world. [] []
But despite the positive growth numbers, the ministry said
the base for recovery was still weak and growth momentum was
unstable.
Oil's gains on Wednesday came after the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) said commercial crude oil stocks fell 2.8
million barrels last week, against a forecast of a 1.6 million
barrel drop from analysts polled by Reuters. []
A rally in the equities markets, along with a weak U.S.
dollar, which traded near a one-month low against major
currencies, also supported oil prices.
Analysts said investors will be keenly watching the weekly
U.S. jobless claims data due to be released later on Thursday,
as well as the Philadelphia July business activity survey and
the National Association of Home Builders July housing market
index to gauge how the world's largest economy was faring.
Oil prices have lost 12 percent so far this month and
dropped to a near two-month low of around $58 a barrel earlier
this week, amid mounting worries that a economic rebound may
not be coming soon enough to help spur flagging fuel demand.
"If oil prices can hold on to their recent gains and go
higher over the next couple of days, then we might be able to
break out of this $58-$61 band," said Clarence Chu, a trader at
Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.
Separately, OPEC could cut output at a meeting in September
if oil falls below $50-$55 a barrel, a member of Kuwait's
Supreme Petroleum Council said on Wednesday. []
(Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
