U.S. crude oil future fell on Tuesday as faltering confidence in a quick economic recovery and bank stability that pressured global equities pushed crude oil prices lower. With the NYMEX May crude oil contract approaching expiration, Tuesday's tumble follows a more than 8 percent drop the previous day and comes ahead of inventory data expected to show U.S. crude oil supplies rose again last week. "There seemed to be a consensus forming that perhaps the worst was over for the burdened global macro economy. This position may be problematic in the wake of recent data," John Kilduff, senior vice president at MF Global, said in a note. "There has been no definitive stream of evidence to support the turnaround theory," Kilduff added. Wall Street had a choppy opening. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq turned positive after initially falling, and the Dow Jones industrial average slipped. [.N] World stocks sold off after a more than one-month long rally lost some of its luster due to renewed worries about the state of the banking industry. [MKTS/GLOB] Weekly U.S. petroleum inventory data was expected to show that crude oil supplies rose last week, according to a Reuters analyst survey on Monday. [ID:nN20407232] The survey also forecast that distillate supplies would show gasoline and distillate inventories fell. Refinery utilization was forecast to have risen 0.5 percentage point to 80.9 percent of capacity. Industry group American Petroleum Institute will issue its inventory report on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its data on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m EDT (1430 GMT). PRICES On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 GMT), May crude CLK9 was down 98 cents, or 2.14 percent, at $44.90 a barrel, trading from $43.83 to $46.25. * June crude CLM9 fell 92 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $47.59 a barrel, trading from $46.72 to $49. * In London, June Brent crude LCOM9 fell 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $49.11 a barrel, trading from $48.31 to $49.86. * NYMEX May RBOB RBK9 fell 2.88 cents, or 2.04 percent, to $1.3831 a gallon, trading from $1.3631 to $1.4212. * NYMEX May heating oil HOK9 fell 2.25 cents, or 1.69 percent, to $1.3091 a gallon, trading from $1.2979 to $1.3528. * The May/May RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $13.41 a barrel. It ended at $13.42 on Monday. The May/May heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $10.47. It ended Monday at $10.04. * The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $27.46, based on the May 2014 contract's Monday settlement at $72.36. The spread ended at $26.48 on Monday. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $49.17/$50.39 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $45.95/$50.38 NYMEX heating oil: $1.27/$1.4035 NYMEX RBOB: $1.3315/1.4470 For a report on technicals click [ID:nLL414719] MARKET NEWS * The euro rose versus the yen and bounced from one-month lows versus the dollar, though gains were limited. [USD/] * Iran's OPEC governor said if the market continued to be oversupplied OPEC may decide to cut output. [ID:nHAF130529] * Norway's ruling Labor Party decided to maintain its 2010 deadline on whether to open for oil and gas activity the pristine and potentially resource-rich Lofoten region in the Arctic.

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