--Oil futures supported by weaker U.S. dollar --Obama's economy speech, U.S. oil inventories data awaited --Brent supported by supply issues, pressured by Europe's woes LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Crude oil futures edged up Wednesday, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, hopes for new U.S. economic stimulus measures, and expectations of a fall in U.S. oil inventories, while being pressured by economic worries. At 1037 GMT, the October Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was up 13 cents, or 0.1%, at $113.02 a barrel. The October contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading up 78 cents, or 0.9% at $86.80 per barrel. "We [market participants] are doing some sideways trading," said Ole Hansen, manager of the futures and fixed income trading desk at Saxo Bank. Oil prices have been tracking the dollar Wednesday amid a lack of market-moving news, he added. A weaker dollar tends to boost oil prices, as the dollar-denominated commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies. Eyes will be on U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday who will give a speech about jobs and economy. Many market participants hope he will announce new stimulus measures to boost the world's largest oil consumer, and the hopes could be providing support to crude prices, said SEB commodity strategist Filip Pettersson. But these hopes may end up being too high, because "Obama's ideas could be watered down as they need to go through Congress," said Hansen. Expectations of lower crude oil inventories in the U.S. due to lower production in the Gulf of Mexico amid the hurricane season also support prices. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, will publish its survey later Wednesday, with the official weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration due Thursday. But "commodity markets are still more susceptible to the downside for the moment given the preponderance of macro data coming in on the softer side of estimates," MF Global said in a research note. Also, Brent is especially pressured by worries over Europe's sovereign debt crisis, said Pettersson. However, the benchmark remains well supported by a number of issues, including supply disruptions in the North Sea and faded hopes for a speedy return of Libyan oil to global markets, said Andrey Kryuchenkov of VTB Capital. "Even in case of a further panic sell off on the equity market, we would only expect limited losses in the spot future here," he said. At 1037 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for September delivery was up $9.50, or 1%, at $948.75 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for October delivery was 63 points higher at $2.8289 per gallon. Copyright © 2011 Dow Jones Newswires Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/09/07/oil-futures-crude-up-on-weaker-dollar-obama-speech-hopes/#ixzz1XGdxmW00

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