Oil eased to around $54 a barrel on Tuesday pressured by a stronger dollar and forecasts that U.S. crude inventories probably rose from their highest level in almost two decades.
The pullback came a day after a series of positive economic indicators lifted oil to $54.64 in post-settlement trade, two cents short of its 2009 high. Further rallies in equities will probably send oil up again, analysts say.
"We are entering into an area of pivotal importance that needs to be traded within a global framework rather than in the isolation of a single asset class," said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix.
U.S. crude fell 22 cents to $54.25 a barrel at 0857 GMT, having settled at $54.47 on Monday, its highest settlement since Nov. 24. London Brent was down 21 cents at $54.37.
A Reuters poll of seven analysts showed that U.S. inventory reports due this week would show crude stocks probably rose for the ninth consecutive week last week, leaving them at another near 19-year high.
The poll also showed an average forecast for a 1.0 million barrel increase in distillate stocks and a 700,000 barrel rise in gasoline supplies.
Adding pressure on oil, the dollar rose against a basket of other major currencies. A stronger dollar can limit the appeal of oil and other dollar-denominated commodities to some investors.
Oil has been trading between $44 and $55 for the past two months, having recovered from $32.40, the lowest since early 2004, in December. It remains down sharply from the record high above $147 reached in 2008.
Signs that the U.S. economy may have bottomed out came on Monday as U.S. construction spending rose 0.3 percent in March in the first increase since September, according to Commerce Department data.
China and India also showed signs of recovery.
A Chinese manufacturing index based on a poll of industry executives conducted for Hong Kong-based brokerage CLSA rising to a nine-month high of 50.1 in April from 44.8 in March.
India's factory activity expanded in April for the first time in five months, according to the ABN AMRO Bank purchasing managers' index.
