By Surabhi Sahu Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures fell in Asia Wednesday as rising inventories and persistent euro-zone debt issues eclipsed positive sentiment stemming from stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence data Tuesday. The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, said late Tuesday that U.S. crude stocks rose 3.429 million barrels last week. Analysts had expected crude stockpiles to fall by 500,000 barrels in the same period. The Energy Information Administration is due to release inventory data later in the day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $99.12 a barrel at 0726 GMT, down $0.67 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.78 to $110.04 a barrel. Signals of a slowing Chinese economy also weighed on prices, a Tokyo-based trader said. China's PMI data are due Thursday. A median forecast from a Dow Jones poll of eight economists showed the PMI likely fell to 49.7 in November from 50.4 in October. Still, any significant declines in crude prices might be limited by geopolitical risks in the Middle East, another Tokyo-based trader said, pegging support at $98/bbl in the coming sessions. "We are now projecting a further advance in nearby WTI to about $103/bbl," Jim Ritterbusch at Ritterbusch & Associates said. Italy's bond auction Tuesday was well accepted and meetings among Europe's representatives indicating effort in resolving debt problems, Ritterbusch said. "The Iranian factor is also evolving as a significant bullish item that appears to be stretching the Brent-WTI spread while at the same time steepening the Brent curve." Further, Sudan said this week that it won't allow oil exports from South Sudan to pass through until a transit fee is paid. As a result, a significant amount of Sudanese oil exports could be imperiled, Barclays Capital said in a research note. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for December--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 62 points to $2.5453 a gallon, while December heating oil traded at $3.0010, 201 points lower. ICE gasoil for December changed hands at $958.00 a metric ton, down $4.00 from Tuesday's settlement. -By Surabhi Sahu, Dow Jones Newswires; +65 6415 4086; surabhi.sahu@dowjones.com

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