NYMEX-Crude down on recovery worry, weak demand

NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures were
down, stuck below $81 midday on Friday, as concerns about the
pace of economic recovery, weak oil demand amid high inventory
levels weighed on the market, after prices jumped to a 2009
high this week.

The U.S. dollar was up against a basket of major currencies
while Wall Street extended losses amid sharp declines in
industrial and energy shares. [USD/] [.N]

Analysts agreed that oil trading remained influenced by the
financial markets, prompting some profit-taking ahead of the
weekend.

Heating oil and gasoline futures traded lower, after
hitting fresh 11-month and seven-week highs earlier this week.

Crude futures settled slightly lower on Thursday after
hitting a 2009 peak of $82 a barrel on Wednesday, also the
highest since October last year.

Wednesday's prices jumped after government inventory data
showed a sharp drop in gasoline inventories last week and a
less-than-expected rise in crude oil stocks.

But U.S. crude oil, gasoline, total distillate and heating
oil supplies all remain at a premium to year-ago levels.

"While supplies have dropped substantially, demand has
fallen even more in relation to levels seen a year ago," said
Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover in Stamford,
Connecticut, in a market commentary.

"The economic recovery was supposed to improve demand (but)
so far, any bullish development has come only from supply
losses," Beutel added.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrials Average .DJI and the
S&P 500 indexes were down nearly 1 percent, as a brief boost
from September existing home sales data evaporated, and gains
in the U.S. dollar diminished the appetite for riskier assets.

For related graphic on the dollar and oil price
co-relation, please click here
here

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, at 12:15 p.m. EDT
(1615 GMT), December crude CLZ9 was down 55 cents, or 0.68
percent, at $80.64 a barrel, trading from $79.82 to $81.78.

* In London, December Brent crude LCOZ9 was down 44
cents, or 0.55 percent, to $79.07 a barrel, trading from $78.26
to $80.15.

* NYMEX November RBOB RBX9 was down 0.42 cent, or 0.21
percent, at $2.04 a gallon, trading from $2.0190 to $2.0584.

* NYMEX November heating oil HOX9 was down 1.68 cents, or
0.8 percent, at $2.0778 a gallon, trading from $2.0549 to
$2.1022.

* The December/December RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was
at $5.04, after ending at $5.14 on Thursday. The
December/December heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at
$6.63, after ending at $8.03 on Thursday.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $11.61, based
on the December 2014 contract Thursday settlement at $92.25.
The spread ended Thursday at $11.06.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $78.13/$74.03

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $80.00/$82.00

NYMEX heating oil: $2.0618/$2.1488

NYMEX RBOB: $2.00/$2.07

For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nLN319584]

MARKET NEWS

* Sales of previously owned U.S. homes surged to their
highest level in more than two years in September, a survey by
the National Association of Realtors showed, providing further
evidence the housing market and economy were on the mend.
[ID:nN2395552]

* New York gold futures turned sharply lower in choppy
trade on Friday, erasing gains from earlier in the session as
the dollar rose further on the home sales report. [GOL/].

* U.S. Northeast temperatures are expected to average below
normal Friday, then above normal through Sunday, then below
normal Monday before returning to near normal in the six- to
10-day outlook, forecaster DTN Meteorlogix said. [ID:nDTN080]

* Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) said it was shutting a 36,000
barrel-per-day hydrocracker at the west plant of its
315,000-bpd Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery to fix a leak.
[ID:nN23102675]
(Reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)