NYMEX-Crude ends up on Wall St rally, shrugs supply

* U.S. Fed: pace of economic contraction slowing

* Big US gasoline drawdown trumps large crude build

* Dollar trims losses vs euro after Fed statement

NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures ended
higher on Wednesday, backed by a rebound on Wall Street and as
traders shrugged off a large build in crude stocks and banked
instead on a bigger-than-forecast drawdown in gasoline stocks.

Federal Reserve policy makers said after a two-day meeting
that the pace of deterioration in the U.S. economy appeared to
be slowing, but it would continue to keep interest rates
exceptionally low for an extended period. [ID:nN29429278]

"As has been the case for the energy complex, the outside
markets, specifically the global equity markets led by the S&P
500, remain the overriding trump card in the direction of
energy prices," said Chris Jarvis, senior analyst, Caprock Risk
Management in New Hampshire.

Despite the U.S. gross domestic product dropping at a 6.1
percent annual rate, a steeper-than-expected pace, investors
took heart as a sharp drop in inventories indicated
manufacturers and sellers may begin restocking soon and that
could help pull the economy out of recession, analysts said.
[ID:nN29396010]

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June crude CLM9
settled up $1.05, or 2.1 percent, at $50.97 a barrel, trading
from $49.12 to $51.42.

* In London, June Brent crude LCOM9 ended up 79 cents, or
1.58 percent, at $50.78 a barrel, trading from $49.25 to
$51.28.

* NYMEX May RBOB RBK9 settled up 5.07 cents, or 3.63
percent, at $1.4484 a gallon, trading from $1.4024 to $1.4528,
the highest since hitting $1.4927 on April 20.

* NYMEX May heating oil HOK9 ended up 1.24 cents, or 0.94
percent, at $1.3291 a gallon, trading from $1.31 to $1.3614.

* NYMEX May refined products contracts expire on Thursday.

* The June/June RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> ended at
$9.77, rising from $8.86 at the close on Tuesday. The June/June
heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> finished at $5.63, down
from $6.07 at the close on Tuesday.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 widened to $20.86,
from $20.53 at the close on Tuesday. The June 2014 contract
settled at $71.83, up $1.38, or 1.96 percent.

MARKET NEWS

* The Energy Information Administration said that crude
stocks rose by 4.1 million barrels, about double the
expectation, to 374.7 million barrels, the highest since stocks
hit 378.8 million barrels in the week to Sept. 7, 1990.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 2.1 million barrel
increase. [EIA/S]

* Crude stocks at the NYMEX delivery hub in Cushing,
Oklahoma, increased 300,000 barrels to 29.8 million barrels.

* Gasoline stocks fell 4.7 million barrels to 212.6 million
barrels, against the forecast for a 200,000-barrel drawdown.

* Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel
fuel, gained 1.8 million barrels to 144.1 million barrels. The
forecast was for a build of 600,000 barrels.

* Refinery utilization was down 0.7 percentage point to
82.7 percent of capacity, against the forecast for a slight
0.1 percentage point increase.

* On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S.
crude stocks rose 4.6 million barrels to 374.8 million barrels
last week. Gasoline stocks fell 2.6 million barrels and
distillate supplies increased 2.6 million barrels. [API/S]

* Wall Street extended gains after the Fed policy
statement. Equities had risen on on better-than-expected
earnings and government data suggesting companies may start to
rebuild inventories, even though the economy shrank more than
expected in the first quarter. [N]

* The dollar trimmed losses against the euro after the Fed
said that the pace of U.S. contraction appears somewhat slower.
[USD/]
(Reporting by Gene Ramos, Robert Gibbons and Eileen Moustakis;
Editing by Christian Wiessner)