SINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were steady in early trade on Wednesday as investors held off making big bets ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's meeting due later in the day.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for June
* Brent crude edged up in volatile trading while U.S. crude ended little changed on Tuesday as investors waited out a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting for any signal of a change in monetary policy.
* U.S. crude stocks jumped 4.9 million barrels last week as imports increased, the industry group the American Petroleum Institute said.
* Syria is perfectly capable of making its own transparent inquiry into the deaths of anti-government demonstrators and needs no outside assistance, its U.N. envoy said on Tuesday. "Syria has a government, has a state," Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told reporters when asked about a call by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for an investigation. [ID:nN26291748]
* President Barack Obama urged world oil producers to lift crude output, as he sought to deflect public anger over high gasoline prices that has hurt his popularity among voters. U.S. motor fuel prices have become a heated political issue after pushing toward $4 a gallon. [ID:nN26290739]
* Military deadlock in Libya has exposed widening international rifts, with critics of NATO bombing calling it another case of the West trying to overthrow a regime by stretching the terms of a U.N. resolution. [ID:nLDE73P202]
* Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi tried to deny rebels in the city of Misrata their only lifeline to the outside world by shelling the port and nearby areas on Tuesday, rebels and residents said. [ID:nLDE73P1TM]
* Japanese retail sales fell 8.5 percent in March from a year earlier, logging their biggest annual decline since March 1998, after a devastating earthquake and nuclear crisis battered consumer confidence, government data showed on Wednesday. [ID:nLKE7DP027]
MARKETS NEWS
* The euro scaled fresh 16-month peaks against a broadly weaker greenback early in Asia on Wednesday, while the Swiss franc hit a record high as markets held bearish bets on the U.S. currency ahead of the outcome of the Fed meeting.
* Silver posted its largest one-day fall in six weeks on Tuesday after having hit a 31-year high in the previous session, while gold was pressured by investor uncertainty over the likely course of U.S. monetary policy.
* World stocks surged toward three-year highs on Tuesday and the U.S. dollar eased against the euro as investors bet the U.S. Fed would keep its easy monetary policy in place.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) :
2330 Japan CPI core nationwide Mar
2350 Japan Industrial output Mar
1100 U.S. Mortgage index Weekly
1230 U.S. ConnocoPhilips earnings Q1
1230 U.S. Durable goods Mar
1430 U.S. EIA weekly crude stocks Apr 22
1430 U.S. EIA weekly dist. stocks Apr 22
1430 U.S. EIA weekly gasoline stk Apr 22
1630 U.S. FOMC rate decision Mar
RECENT CRUDE OIL TRADES
Asia... Europe... Americas...
CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS
Crude oil tenders in Asia........................
Crude oil supply outages in Asia............
Refinery outages in Asia....................
Global arbitrage news and flows.................
W.African crude imports to Asia, monthly........
REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES
Asia... Middle East... Europe...
NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA
Japan..............
China..............
India..............
S.Korea............
Indonesia.......
CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA
Japan... US... Europe...
CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS
OPEC output survey... New Asian fields.
New projects......
CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS
Middle East........... Asia-Pacific........
West Africa......... North Sea............
Asia outlook....... Europe outlook.....
Global futures report... Technicals report......
PRICES
For all Official Selling Prices......................
For a POLL on oil prices............................
NYMEX and ICE oil futures...........................
TOCOM crude oil futures.............................<0#JCO:>
Dubai, Oman swaps and spread...............
Middle East physical crude diffs...............
Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps..........
Asia-Pacific physical crude....................
All Asian crude oil differentials................<0#C-DIF-A>
All Asian crude oil outright prices..................<0#C-A> (Reporting by Manash Goswami; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)