NYMEX-Crude ends up, gets modest lift from APIs

* U.S. April pending home sales up, boosts equities, oil

* API data shows crude stocks fell more than expected

* Coming up: EIA data on Thursday, 11 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT)

NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures settled
higher on Wednesday, supported by strong U.S. pending home
sales that also lifted Wall Street equities.

Crude oil futures traded inside Tuesday's range and for a
second straight day finished well below the intraday high amid
choppy trading ahead of the week's oil inventory reports.

A National Association of Realtors survey showed pending
sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose more than expected in
April, reaching a six-month high. [ID:nN02163984]

"The pending home sales helped the stock market and oil,"
said Richard Ilczyszyn senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock
in Chicago.

U.S. stock markets ended higher, attracting bargain hunters
early and then lifted by the positive economic data and later
by rising energy stocks. [.N] The euro recovered against the
dollar EUR=, though the dollar index .DXY still managed to
strengthen.

Refined products finished stronger, helped by a strong
gasoline demand report from MasterCard and refinery snags that
helped keep products supported.

Weekly oil inventory reports were delayed due to Monday's
Memorial Day holiday. Late Wednesday, the American Petroleum
Institute reported crude stocks fell 1.4 million barrels, more
than expected. [API/S]

Gasoline stocks fell more than expected and distillate
stocks rose more than forecast, the API said.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's report is set
to arrive on Thursday at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT).

An expanded analyst survey on Wednesday ahead of the API
report yielded a forecast for crude stocks to be down only
100,000 barrels, with gasoline expected to be down 500,000
barrels and distillates up 100,000 barrels. [EIA/S]

Crude, RBOB and heating oil futures all were above their
settlements when the API data arrived, but did not immediately
extend their earlier trading ranges.

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude CLN0
rose 28 cents, or 0.39 percent, to settle at $72.86 a barrel,
trading from $71.68 to $73.93. Tuesday's trading ranged from
$71.64 to $75.33.

* Crude has recovered from a $64.24 intraday low on May 20,
which was the weakest front-month price since $62.76 was struck
on July 30, 2009. But crude prices are still well below the
2010 peak of $87.15 struck on May 3.

* In London on the Intercontinental Exchange, July Brent
crude LCON0 rose $1.04 to settle at $73.75 a barrel, trading
from $71.97 to $74.59.

* NYMEX July RBOB RBN0 rose 4.36 cents, or 2.2 percent,
to settle at $2.0261 a gallon, trading from $1.9668 to
$2.0450.

* NYMEX July heating oil HON0 rose 3.55 cents, or 1.8
percent to settle at $2.0059 a gallon, trading from $1.9521 to
$2.0231.

* The July/July heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> ended
at $11.39 a barrel. The spread ended Tuesday at $10.18. The
July/July RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> ended at $12.24. The
spread ended Tuesday at $10.69.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 ended at $15.05, based
on the July 2015 contract Wednesday settlement at $87.91. The
spread ended on Tuesday at $13.89.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $71.17/$72.91

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $71.33/$73.00

NYMEX heating oil: $1.9105/$2.395

NYMEX RBOB: $1.9210/$2.0535

For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nLDE6511A6]

MARKET NEWS

* Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said operations were normal at
its joint-venture refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana, after a
brief compressor malfunction. [ID:nWEN5410]

* U.S. retail gasoline demand rose 3.7 percent in the week
ending May 28 from the previous week, due to holiday demand,
MasterCard SpendingPulse said. Demand rose 5 percent vs the
year-ago period. [ID:nNLL2HE654]
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Marguerita Choy)