* U.S. weekly jobless claims to shed light on economy
* EIA inventory data could confirm crude stocks drawdown
* Wall Street rally, dollar weakness to drive gains
By Jennifer Tan
SINGAPORE, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Oil rose for the sixth
straight session to near $76 a barrel on Thursday, touching its
highest in a year after U.S. industry data showed a surprise
fall in crude stockpiles, suggesting that demand in the world's
top oil consumer is recovering.
Further evidence for economic recovery came from the Dow
industrials piercing the 10,000 level for the first time in a
year, while the dollar slumped to a fresh 14-month low against
the euro as surprisingly robust corporate results cheered
investors and whetted appetite for higher yielding currencies.
Traders will scour weekly jobless claims and the U.S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory data later in
the day for confirmation that consumption in the world's
largest economy is on the mend.
U.S. crude for November delivery rose 62 cents to $75.80 a
barrel by 0220 GMT, after surging as high as $75.90 earlier in
electronic trading, its highest since October 2008. London
Brent crude <LCOc1> was unchanged at $73.10.
Crude, up 1.8 percent on the year, is now in positive
territory on a year-on-year basis for the first time since Oct.
10, 2008. The six straight days of gains mark its longest
winning streak since July.
"What's driving oil's rally is basically the weaker dollar
and Wall Street, so if we get a collapse in the stock market,
all bets could be off," said Tony Nunan, risk manager at
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.
"I think the market has gotten ahead of itself, because
inventories are still too high, and there's no shortage of
crude."
Earnings are due this week from several major U.S.
companies, and the oil market is tracking results for signs of
an economic rebound.
JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> reported a sharp rise in
third-quarter results, helping to bump up U.S. stocks on
Wednesday. []
U.S. crude stocks fell 172,000 barrels last week against
expectations of a 700,000 barrel rise, according to data from
the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday. The EIA is
due to release its report at 1500 GMT. []
U.S. weekly jobless claims due at 1230 GMT will shed more
light on the economy's pace of recovery. Economists polled by
Reuters forecast a total of 525,000 new filings compared with
521,000 in the prior week.
"The market will continue to be choppy going forward,
depending on the kind of economic data that we get. We've had a
week of gains, I think we're due for a correction soon, with
some support at $70," Nunan said.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
