Week's round of reports on petroleum supplies kicks off Tuesday By Claudia Assis & Nick Godt, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures advanced Tuesday, buoyed by positive economic reports that brightened prospects for energy demand. Crude for August delivery rose $1.04, or 1.1%, to $77.34 a barrel on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said its index of manufacturing conditions improved in June. Meanwhile, U.S. import prices fell in May, easing concerns about inflation. Oil also took advantage of investors' willingness to take on more risk, which benefits commodities such as oil and stocks, said Richard Ross, a technical analyst with Auerbach Grayson in New York. "We're seeing a more aggressive, offense type investing," he said. "May was all about defense." The oil market continues to sway in tandem with equities, which also rose on Tuesday on positive macroeconomic news. A firmer equity market as well as a weaker dollar and stronger euro "all point to a stabilization in the financial markets and a greater willingness to reinstate bets on economic recovery," Tim Evans, an analyst with Citi Futures Perspective, wrote in a report Tuesday. The dollar index (DXY 86.02, -0.49, -0.56%) , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six other currencies, declined 0.6% to 86.04. Traders were also waiting for weekly data on inventories. After Tuesday's trading close, the Washington-based American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its update on inventories for last week. The Department of Energy is due to release its own weekly report on petroleum stockpiles on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by Platts expect a decrease of around 1.75 million barrels for crude-oil stocks. Gasoline stocks are expected to increase 640,000 barrels, whereas distillates inventories are seen rising 760,000 barrels. Refineries are forecast to run at 89.13% of their capacity, marginally up, the analysts said. A draw in oil inventories would be consistent with historical trends, Platts said. Crude had fallen in early trading, following the Monday downgrade of Greece's sovereign-debt rating by Moody's Investors Service. In Monday's dealings, crude had held the line on gains, closing up 1.3%, as investors had cheered stronger manufacturing data out of Europe. Meanwhile, natural-gas futures continued to rally, up 8 cents, or 1.6%, to $5.09 per million British thermal units. Closing prices like these were last seen in mid-February. Reformulated gasoline for July delivery added 4 cents, or 1.8%, to $2.11 a gallon, reclaiming closing levels from mid-May.

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