NYMEX-Crude down as dollar rises, equities fall

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell Thursday on
the dollar's strength, slumping equities and continued concern about
demand.

"Wall Street had a weak opening, which added to the pressure on crude
from the dollar's moving up some," said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas
Commodity Futures Inc in New York.

Bentz and other sources also noted the government forecast for December
temperatures to have equal chance of being above or below average in the
U.S. Northeast and above average temperatures for the Midwest and Great
Lakes.

The dollar and the yen rose as equity and commodity markets fell,
encouraging investors to pare back exposure to perceived riskier
currencies. [USD/]

U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent shortly after the open after a
bearish analyst comment on semiconductor stocks, even as data showed no
change in weekly jobless claims. [.N]

Crude ended higher on Wednesday, but off its high above $80 a barrel,
supported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration's report showing
domestic crude stocks fell 900,000 barrels last week. [EIA/S]

Gasoline stocks fell 1.7 million barrels, against a forecast for
supplies to be unchanged. Distillate stocks fell 300,000 barrels, less than
forecast.

The EIA's natural gas report is due at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT) on
Thursday. A Reuters survey of analysts forecast storage to be up 21 billion
cubic feet. [ID:nN19166040]

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:07 a.m. EST (1507 GMT),
December crude CLZ9 was down $1.46, or 1.83 percent, at $78.12 a barrel,
trading from $77.96 to $79.87.

* The NYMEX December crude contract expires on Friday.

* In London, January Brent crude LCOF0 fell $1.17, or 1.47 percent,
to $78.30 a barrel, trading from $78.08 to $79.79.

* NYMEX December RBOB RBZ9 fell 2.14 cents, or 1.06 percent, to $1.99
a gallon, trading from $1.9838 to $2.0204.

* NYMEX December heating oil HOZ9 fell 2.86 cents, or 1.4 percent, to
$2.02 a gallon, trading from $2.0097 to $2.0569.

* The December/December RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $5.48,
after ending at $4.90 on Wednesday. The December/December heating oil crack
spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $6.64, after ending at $6.46 on Wednesday.

* The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward
crude contract CLc61 was at $15.49, based on the December 2014 contract
Wednesday settlement at $93.61. The spread ended Wednesday at $14.03.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $78.51/$78.79

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $78.48/$80.39

NYMEX heating oil: $2.0114/$2.1056

NYMEX RBOB: $1.9580/$2.0518

For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nLJ387696]

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic December temperatures were forecast
to have an equal chance to be above or below average, and the Great Lakes
and Midwest above average, according to a government forecast on Thursday.
[ID:nWBT013338]

* The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless
insurance was unchanged last week, according to government data. The
four-week moving average of claims dropped to its lowest in almost a year.
[ID:nN19164958]

* OPEC could decide to up output a little at its December meeting if
there is a very substantial rise in demand and prices, Lukman said later on
Thursday. [ID:nLAE002063]
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by John Picinich)