NYMEX-Crude inches up on distillate stocks decline
TOKYO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures inched up to stay above $93 a barrel on Wednesday, helped by strength in heating oil futures after industry data showed U.S. distillate stocks unexpectedly fell last week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for February delivery was up 19 cents at $93.47 a barrel by 0018 GMT, after settling down 86 cents at $93.28 on Tuesday.
NYMEX heating oil futures rose 0.5 percent to above $3.02 a gallon. U.S. distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, unexpectedly fell by 568,000 barrels last week, American Petroleum Institute (API) data showed after Tuesday's settlement.
* London Brent crude for February delivery, which expires at the end of trading later in the day, had not yet traded yet. It settled down $1.58 at $110.30 on Tuesday, weighed down by data that showed the German economy contracted by 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, more than had been expected.
* U.S. crude stocks rose by only 46,000 barrels last week, API data showed, far less than the increase of 2.3 million barrels forecast in a Reuters survey of analysts.
Gasoline stocks rose 4.1 million barrels, API data showed, compared with a projection for a 2.9 million barrels increase.
* A senior U.N. nuclear watchdog official said on Tuesday he was aiming for an agreement with Iran this week on a framework deal enabling his inspectors to investigate suspected nuclear bomb research.
MARKETS NEWS
* The Dow and S&P 500 edged higher on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected retail data, though tech heavyweight Apple dragged on the market for a third day.
* The euro had its winning streak clipped after a top European official complained about its recent run higher, while the yen held firm on Wednesday following a warning about its excessive weakness by a Japanese politician.
DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Wednesday: (Time in GMT)
- 1000 Euro Zone Inflation, final Dec
- 1200 U.S. MBA Purchase Index
- 1330 U.S. CPI Dec
- 1330 U.S. Real weekly earnings Dec
- 1400 U.S. Net L-T flows Nov
- 1415 U.S. Industrial output Dec
- 1500 U.S. NAHB housing market Jan
- 1530 U.S. EIA announces weekly national petroleum report
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)