Oil edges up on gasoline, Wall Street; stockpile worry limits gains

Oil edges up on gasoline, Wall Street; stockpile worry limits gains

@...@A surge in Wall Street share prices also lent support© to oil despite pressure exerted by the dollar*s rise to a three~week high// Brent crude settled up 23 cents, or 0//5 percent, at $48//08 a barrel// The global crude benchmark was up nearly 2 percent earlier in the day// U//S// crude rose 18 cents, or 0//4 percent, to settle at $45//38//

@...@Crude prices rose more in early trading as gasoline© rallied up to 3 percent as traders re~evaluated Wednesday*s U//S// government data showing a 1//5 million~barrel decline in stocks of the motor fuel last week// A Reuters poll of oil analysts had forecast a drop of 858,000 barrels in gasoline// Technical support also emerged for crude earlier on Wednesday as Brent held above $46, traders said// But oil gave back most of its gains as focus returned to last week*s big build in crude stockpiles ~ 8 million barrels ~ which was more than double that ©forecast in the Reuters oil poll//