--Investors look to the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee for hints of quantitative easing --Euro gains against the dollar, buoying oil prices --U.S. Department of Energy crude inventory data due later Wednesday By Jenny Gross Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Crude oil prices traded higher Wednesday on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve would announce further monetary easing in the U.S., the world's biggest energy consumer following their two-day meeting ending later Wednesday. At 1107 GMT, the front-month December Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was up 42 cents, or 0.4%, at $109.98 a barrel. The front-month December contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading up 37 cents, or 0.4%, at $92.58 per barrel. Nymex crude on the December contract rose for the first time in three days. Optimism around a stimulus package boosted sentiment across commodities, analysts said, as Fed intervention to boost the U.S. economy could translate into higher demand for crude oil. While the Fed is unlikely to announce additional easing Wednesday, even hints of lower interest rates could cause investors to sell the dollar, a move that would support Brent prices. A weak dollar makes purchasing oil less expensive for holders of currencies other than the dollar. "The euro's had a correction after three down days, and that's just pulling oil up as well," said Glen Ward, head of retail derivatives at London Capital Group. "Whether there's any longevity depends on how the Greek situation is going to unfold," Ward said. At 1123 GMT, the euro was up 73 cents, or 0.5% to the dollar, at $1.3777. Despite the optimism, analysts were skeptical much would come out of the meeting that would support prices. "Of course it will be important if there's any chatter about QE3 or beyond, but I don't think there will be because some positive U.S. data has come in over the last day and that should encourage hiring and spending," said Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, an analyst at Global Risk Management. "I don't think we will get that much out of the FOMC meeting that could support oil prices," he added. Aside from results from the FOMC meeting and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's press conference, investors will be looking to weekly data from the U.S. Department of Energy, due later Wednesday, for confirmation or rejection of Tuesday's American Petroleum Institute figures showing that crude oil stocks rose by 900,000 barrels last week. "These are bullish statistics and the oil market is duly reacting to them by trading higher this morning. Under the current economic circumstances, however, one can only wonder how fragile this recovery is," said Tamas Varga of PVM. Later in the week, market participants will focus on U.S. non-farm payroll data, the meeting of the Group of 20 heads of state and government in Cannes, France and the Greek vote of confidence Friday. At 1113 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for November delivery was up $17.50, or 1.9%, at $956.50 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for December delivery was up 99 points, or 0.4%, at $2.6344 per gallon. -By Jenny Gross, Dow Jones Newswires; 4420-7842-9239; jenny.gross@dowjones.com

Source