SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures fell slightly in Asia Thursday tracking declines in regional equities, with traders still cautious ahead of a host of U.S. economic data due later in the day that will likely influence market direction. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at $86.91 a barrel at 0648 GMT, down $0.67 in the Globex electronic session. October Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.40 to $110.20 a barrel. Asian equities were lower after closing mixed to higher for several days. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.4%, South Korea's Kospi Composite lost 2.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was flat, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% and India's Sensex fell 0.7%. Oil futures shed part of overnight gains after a bearish Department of Energy crude inventory report showed U.S. oil stockpiles rose 4.2 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 12, while analysts had expected a small decline. Gasoline prices also fell marginally. Analysts said sentiment for the product remained mixed despite a higher-than-expected draw in the DOE report Wednesday. Gasoline inventories fell 3.51 million barrels in the week, hitting the lowest level since May 20. Analysts had expected a fall of 1.2 million barrels. Despite the big drawdown in inventories, "we have a number of confusing figures for gasoline demand [in the U.S.]," Peter Beutel at Cameron Hanover said. "Taken together, demand is not particularly strong. We consider it weak, actually." But several analysts said market momentum appears to be driving prices higher, picking on selective positive news, and could push Nymex towards $90 a barrel over the next few days, unless sharp declines in equities or a higher U.S. dollar drag them down. "Volatility could be cranked up appreciably [on Thursday] given a plethora of economic releases that will include jobless claims, CPI, existing home sales, Philadelphia Fed survey and leading indicators," Jim Ritterbusch at Ritterbusch and Associates said. He expects prices to maintain upward momentum, leveraging strength in crude spreads and a lack of chart resistance in the short term. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for September--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 27 points to $2.8676 a gallon, while September heating oil traded at $2.9592, 24 points lower. ICE gasoil for September changed hands at $932.25 a metric ton, down $4.25 from Wednesday's settlement. -By Gurdeep Singh, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-6415 4064; gurdeep.singh@dowjones.com

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