* U.S. crude highest price in a year
* EIA inventory data on Thursday
* Equities rally, dollar weakness help gains
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Chris Baldwin
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Oil rose for a sixth straight
session on Thursday, touching its highest price in a year near
$76 a barrel after U.S. industry data showed a modest fall in
crude stockpiles and the dollar stayed weak.
U.S. crude for November delivery rose 6 cents to $75.24 a
barrel by 1030 GMT, after climbing as high as $75.96 earlier in
electronic trading, its highest since October 2008.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> was up 10 cents at $73.20.
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 API overnight was slightly supportive, as there was a
bigger-than-expected drawdown on gasoline, but really the market
is waiting for confirmation in the DOE stats," said Tony
Machacek, a broker at Bache Commodities in London.
Traders will look to weekly jobless claims and U.S.
government Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Information
Administration (EIA) inventory data later in the trading session
for confirmation that fuel demand in the world's largest economy
is rising.
The EIA is due to release its report at 1500 GMT. []
Further support for crude came as the Dow Jones industrial
average rose above 10,000 points for the first time in a year on
Wednesday, while the dollar slumped to a fresh 14-month low
against a basket of currencies. []
FUNDAMENTALS WARNING
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.
Oil has marched in step with a recovery across markets,
echoing rallies in equities, gold and base metals based on the
view that economic recovery was gathering strength.
But traders and analysts remained wary that rising prices
based on expectations of a revived economy were out of step with
still fragile demand for oil.
"There is currently no fundamental reason supporting a price
rise and the path back to $100 per barrel will be a long and
protracted one," analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna said in a note
to clients.
"Poor oil fundamentals, including 6 million b/d of OPEC
spare capacity, a massive middle distillates stock surplus and
terrible refining margins will keep the upside potential in
check," JBE said.
U.S. weekly jobless claims due at 1230 GMT will shed more
light on the pace of economic recovery. A Reuters poll of
economists forecast 525,000 new filings compared with 521,000 in
the prior week.
For a graphic showing oil's year-on-year performance, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/109/CMD_OILPST1009.gif
For a graphic showing the oil price against world oil
consumption, click here:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/109/CMD_OILDDM1009.gif
For a graphic showing the oil price and days supply, click
here:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/109/CMD_OILSP1009.gif
(Additional reporting by Jennifer Tan in Singapore; editing by
William Hardy)
