Crude, products bounce as Wall Street gains

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures climbed more than 5 percent, extending the day's rebound as Wall Street added to earlier gains and the dollar remained weak.

Gasoline and heating oil futures also recovered from heavy losses in the previous session, moving up with crude oil.

The day's gains appeared to sideline Wednesday's worries over rising oil inventories. Traders were instead heartened by a revived optimism on the economy's recovery.

"Markets are rebounding with stocks higher, renewed optimism and a weak dollar. Oil markets were oversold after yesterday's sharp drop and jobless data may have also provided additional support," said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc.

The number of Americans collecting long-term unemployment aid fell to the lowest in three months in mid-July, according to government data that implied a slowing pace of layoffs as the economy stabilizes.

U.S. stocks kept climbing after the Treasury Department's record $28 billion auction of 7-year notes attracted solid bidding. Earlier gains were fueled by strong corporate results and the jobless claims report. .N

The U.S. dollar fell against a basket of currencies as a firmer tone in world equity and commodity markets lessened demand for the greenback as a safe haven. <USD/>

Crude futures fell more than 5 percent on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a sharp rise in crude oil inventories last week. The report defied expectations for a draw, as imports jumped and refinery utilization fell.

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:15 p.m. EDT (1715 GMT), September crude was up $3.14, or 4.87 percent, at $66.49 a barrel, trading from $62.76 to $66.80.

* In London, September Brent crude was up $3.24, or 4.87 percent, at $69.77 a barrel, trading from $66.36 to $70.20.

* NYMEX August RBOB jumped 9.90 cents, or 5.34 percent, to $1.9540 a gallon, trading from $1.8450 to $1.9644.

* NYMEX August heating oil leaped 8.50 cents, or 5.09 percent, to $1.7563 a gallon, trading from $1.6601 to $1.77.

* August refined products contracts expire Friday.

* The September/September RBOB crack spread was at $14.15 after ending at $13.09 on Wednesday. The September/September heating oil crack spread was at $8.25 after ending at $7.87 on Wednesday.

* The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward crude contract was at $17.30, based on the September 2014 contract Wednesday settlement at $83.79. The spread ended Wednesday at $20.43.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $65.60/$63.65

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $62.50/$66.48

NYMEX heating oil: $1.65/$1.75

NYMEX RBOB: $1.83/$1.8720

MARKET NEWS

* Sunoco Inc is planning to shut down the Girard Point section of its 335,000-barrel-per-day refinery for three weeks in August, trade sources said on Thursday.

* U.S. natural gas inventory levels climbed to 3.023 trillion cubic feet last week, the earliest ever that stocks have broken above the 3 tcf mark as the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that total domestic gas inventories rose 71 billion cubic feet to 3.023 tcf, a record high for this time of year.

* Kuwait has fully shut the 460,000-barrel-per-day Mina al-ahmadi oil refinery, its largest, due to a problem with the water cooling system and restart would take up to three days, an official at state refining unit KNPC said.

* Asian imports of West African crude oil were expected to reach 1.62 million barrels per day, the highest monthly volume since March 2006 according to Reuters data.

(Reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons; Editing by Christian Wiessner)