By Edward Welsch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Crude futures trimmed earlier gains but stayed strong at near $82 a barrel Tuesday despite a worse-than-expected batch of U.S. economic data. Data showing deeper declines in U.S. pending home sales and factory orders failed to put a significant damper on the economic optimism that caused oil futures to break above $80 Monday for the first time in three months. Light, sweet crude for September delivery traded 41 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $81.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading up more than a dollar a barrel before the economic data was released. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange in London traded $1 cents, or 1.2%, higher at $81.82 a barrel. "There's been a reluctance in this market to respond to any of the negative economic data we've been having over the last several weeks," said Peter Beutel, an energy analyst with trading advisory firm Cameron Hanover. "The oil market is being extraordinarily resilient, and today it's basically saying that yesterday was a legitimate breakout above $80." The National Association of Realtors' index for pending sales of used homes decreased 2.6% to 75.7 in June, compared with consensus estimates of no change from May. The drop comes as a federal government subsidy for home buyers was removed. Meanwhile, U.S. factory orders fell by 1.2% in June, compared with consensus estimates predicting a 0.5% decline, and providing another sign the U.S. economy may be weakening. But while the discouraging data helped push the U.S. stock markets into negative territory, the oil market focused on a weaker dollar against the euro. A weaker dollar helps support oil prices, which become cheap for holders of other currencies as the dollar falls. The euro traded at $1.3206 against the dollar in recent trading, up from $1.3180 on Monday. Oil's rise above $80 a barrel coincided with strong gains in European and Asian equities markets, as well as a weakening of the dollar and a drop in gold prices. All are signs that investors are more interested in buying assets tied to economic growth than the protection of stable currencies and gold. Front-month September reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded 1.1 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $2.1795 a gallon. August heating oil traded 2.28 cents, or 1.1%, higher at $2.1766 a gallon. -By Edward Welsch, Dow Jones Newswires; 403-229-9095; edward.welsch@dowjones.com.

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