* Dollar weakens after brief jump against yen
* Fed stimulus due out Wed.
* Coming up: U.S. Construction spending, 1400 GMT
(Updates prices, adds analyst comment)
By Rebekah Kebede
PERTH, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Oil rose to nearly $82 on Monday,
buoyed by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would
commit to a new round of monetary stimulus this week and prompt
further weakness in the dollar.
U.S. crude for December <CLc1> rose 31 cents to $81.74 a
barrel by 0720 GMT. ICE Brent <LCOc1> rose 15 cents to $83.30.
"The market is looking forward to the stimulus, or
quantitative easing," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director
of Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to commit to a
fresh round of bond purchases known as quantitative easing to
pump more money into the sluggish U.S. economy.
A survey by the New York Federal Reserve of dealers and
investors included scenarios of up to $1 trillion, a figure
larger than recent estimates. []
Some analysts suggest that the Fed would start with $80
billion to $100 billion a month, but leave itself the option to
do more. []
"Nobody is exactly clear how much and when the quantitative
easing will start, although people have already started to
price in some of the quantitative easing," said Serene Lim, a
Singapore-based oil analyst with ANZ.
The U.S. dollar <.DXY> slipped against major currencies on
Monday, losing early gains against the yen. []
The weak U.S. dollar has supported oil prices for months,
pulling oil prices in October to a trading range between $80
and $85, up from between $72 and $80 in September.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister said on Monday he hoped oil
prices would stay where they are now, and more oil would be
pumped into the market if needed. []
But markets may have been overly optimistic about the Fed's
stimulus, according to Barratt.
"We are actually feeling that it won't be as aggressive as
what people expect, so we feel the market is heading itself up
for a little bit of a dump," he said.
Unexpectly strong manufacturing data from China, the
world's second-largest economy, also helped boost boost oil
prices and drove Asian share prices up. []
"That infers that we're expecting more industrialization
into 2011, not just base industrialization, but also financial
services," said Geoff Howie, sales and markets strategist at MF
Global in Singapore.
U.S. economic growth data released Friday also underpinned
oil prices as data showed that gross domestic product in the
world's biggest oil consumer inched up from the previous
quarter.
"U.S. GDP has come out in line with expectations and not
too bad. I think the markets are just coming off on the back of
that," Barratt said.
The U.S. economy grew at a 2.0 percent annual rate, up from
1.7 percent in the second quarter. []
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
