U.S. crude edges up in early Asian trade amid market gloom

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures eked out gains for a second day in early Asian trade on Thursday, though the market remains vulnerable to gloom over a world awash with supply and concerns about economic growth hitting equity markets.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 16 cents at $30.64 a barrel at 0052 GMT. It settled at $30.48 on Wednesday, up 4 cents, after dropping as low as $30.10, the first gains in 2016.

WTI is down about 20 percent from a high on the first day of trading in 2016 and fell through the important $30 barrier on Tuesday before recouping some of the losses.

 

Brent crude was yet to trade. On Wednesday it was the global benchmark's turn to fall below $30 a barrel, dropping to a new 12-year low at $29.96 a barrel, before settling at $30.31 a barrel, down 55 cents or 1.8 percent.

A bearish report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday underlined concerns that demand is stagnating as more supply comes to market.

Data showing that crude inventories > rose 234,000 barrels last week, much less than expectations, was overshadowed by reported builds of 8.4 million barrels in gasoline > and over 6 million in distillates, which includes diesel and heating oil >.

Concerns about the U.S. economy also amplified the gloom and the Standard and Poors 500 index dipped below 1,900 for the first time since early October. <.N>

In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 <.N225> was down about 600 points, more than 3 percent, after data showed core machinery orders fell 14.4 percent in November from the previous month.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Ed Davies)